Hotelier That Bought Trump Toronto Searching For U.S. Property, Tech Acquisitions
The company that purchased and rebranded Trump International Hotel & Tower in Toronto has its eyes on bigger prizes.
Toronto-based InnVest Hotels is seeking to diversify its portfolio by investing in the United States due to the Canadian hotel market becoming "frothy," InnVest Senior Vice President of Asset Management Jeff Hyslop told Bloomberg.
InnVest plans to target major markets such as Seattle, Chicago and Boston, but will avoid New York and San Francisco due to price concerns. The company, which is owned by Hong Kong-based Bluesky Hotels and Resorts, projects about $62M U.S. in capital expenditures, a solid chunk of which will be devoted to technological advancements.
InnVest is exploring the introduction of robots that deliver room service and cellphone-based room entrance across its hotels, which total 11,000 rooms across Canada.
InnVest completed its purchase of Trump Tower Toronto after The Trump Organization put it up for sale on the eve of President Donald Trump's inauguration. InnVest then stripped the controversial name from the property and rebranded it as an Adelaide hotel. Soon, it will be renamed again as the St. Regis hotel.
Before Trump sold the hotel, it became yet another connection between the president's former company and Russia. Its joint venture partner in the development, Russian-Canadian developer Alexander Schnaider, partly financed the project's construction by selling his interest in a Ukrainian steelmaker for $850M in 2010. That sale was initiated and financed by Russian state-owned bank VEB.
