St. Pete Marriott hotel sells in $60M deal

The AC Hotel by Marriott in downtown St. Petersburg, which opened its doors this week to guests, has sold in a roughly $60 million deal. 

South Carolina-based Greystar Real Estate Partners sold the eight-story, 172-room property inside the Ascent St. Petersburg building, at 225 1st Ave. N., to OTO Development for $59.6 million, according to a deed executed Feb. 28. 

“Travelers love the AC Hotel’s brand, and our company does, too,” OTO Development CEO Todd Turner said in the company’s news post. “Greystar and Concord have developed a fantastic property and OTO is privileged to add it to our portfolio.”

The buyer, under the St. Petersburg Hotels LLC entity that’s connected to the South Carolina-based Palmetto Hospitality Fund, took out a $49.55 million loan from Fifth Third Bank Association. 

OTO Development, part of The Johnson Group, owns and/or operates nearly 70 hotels. 

The AC Hotel has a dozen suites, a 2,500-square-foot lobby, 1,800 square feet of meeting and event space, a fitness center, an outdoor pool and the signature rooftop terrace bar, Cane and Barrel. 

The Ascent tower, which broke ground in late 2020, also includes the apartments in the 36-story tower and 5,500 square feet of retail space.

Real estate firm and general contractor Greystar and Concord Hospitality developed and managed the $117 million hotel and apartment tower, which they will continue to manage.

Preston Reid, a managing director at Hodges Ward Elliott, brokered the sale.