Oxford Capital Group, LLC Announces the Acquisition and Planned Comprehensive Renovation of the Historic 453-Room Westin Book Cadillac Detroit Hotel

 

CHICAGO – (December 17, 2021) — Continuing its national opportunistic investment activities, Oxford Capital Group, LLC today announced the acquisition and planned full scale interior renovation of the iconic 453-room Westin Book Cadillac Detroit Hotel, located at 1114 Washington Boulevard in the Washington Boulevard Historic District of downtown Detroit. Oxford, along with its partner Taconic Capital Advisors, led complex negotiations with multiple constituents, ultimately resulting in the modification, restructuring, and assumption of the commercial mortgage-backed security loan. As part of its investment commitment, Oxford and Taconic will lead a comprehensive refresh of the guest rooms, public space, meeting rooms, and ballrooms over the next 24 months. The hotel will remain open and operational throughout the renovation period.

“The Book Cadillac is arguably Detroit’s most iconic hotel asset. We are excited to announce this acquisition and look forward to strategically upgrading and refreshing the property so that it remains a market leader in downtown Detroit as the city and the nation continue their post-COVID recovery trajectory,” says John W. Rutledge, Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Chicago-based Oxford Capital Group, LLC and Oxford Hotels & Resorts, LLC. “We worked closely with various city agencies on this complex transaction and are grateful for their support.”

The Westin Book Cadillac was the tallest building in Detroit and the tallest hotel in the world when it opened in 1924, and was one of the city’s top hotels for nearly 60 years. It closed for renovations in 1984 and remained empty for more than two decades, reopening in 2008. As part of their agreement with Marriott, Oxford Capital Group is making a substantial investment into newly designed guest rooms and all public spaces, including the lobby, meeting rooms, and ballroom. The historic property will be reimagined by Oxford in collaboration with The Gettys Group and Marriott as sophisticated and classic with sculptural elements refined by elegant details to create a luxurious and residential feel.

“We are pleased to have negotiated this highly complicated transaction to acquire such a prominent historic asset,” says Matthew Kalt, Vice President of Oxford Capital Group, LLC and Oxford Hotels & Resorts, LLC. “The Westin Book Cadillac is a landmark property revered in Detroit for nearly 100 years, located in the center of the city, and we look forward to leading the renovation of the hotel and to continue to be a part of Detroit’s revitalization.”

Eric Sitman, a Director with Taconic Capital Advisors says “We are excited to execute on our first transaction with the Oxford team and hope it is the first of many. The Westin Book Cadillac represents a tremendous value-add opportunity for one of the most historic and iconic assets in all of Detroit. Our partnership looks forward to improving the hotel’s positioning through a comprehensive renovation as the city of Detroit, along with the rest of the world, recovers from COVID.”

About Oxford Capital Group, LLC and Oxford Hotels & Resorts, LLC 

Oxford Capital Group, LLC is an award-winning international real estate investment, development, and management firm that focuses on large-scale acquisitions, developments, redevelopments, and operationally-intensive real estate. Oxford, its affiliates, and principals have been involved in nearly $4 billion of real estate and private equity investments, with a primary focus on hospitality (15,000+ hotel rooms); hospitality anchored mixed use projects including multi-family (1,000+ units); senior housing (3,000+ units); urban retail; and parking. Oxford Hotels & Resorts, LLC is its wholly owned hotel management and asset management affiliate, which specializes in operating, managing, asset managing, and branding distinctive, high design luxury lifestyle hotels, and food & beverage venues. Its growing national portfolio of luxury lifestyle hotels and brands include Audrey, Cass, Felix, Godfrey, Griffon, Julian, King George, Le Méridien Essex Chicago, LondonHouse, Los Gatos, Porter, Thompson (Chicago), Versey, and Vertigo. It also has a growing collection of restaurants, rooftops, bars and pool-centric food & beverage venues. These include About Last Knife (ALK), I|O Rooftop, LH Rooftop, Ruka, Spa Boutique, SX Sky Bar, and WTR. Oxford Living, LLC is its senior housing investment and management platform. Oxford Residential, LLC is its multi-family development affiliate.

About Taconic Capital Advisors

Taconic Capital is a global institutional investment firm that pursues an event driven, multi-strategy investment approach dedicated to generating strong risk-adjusted returns over multiple market cycles. Taconic was founded in 1999 by former Goldman Sachs partners, Frank Brosens and Ken Brody. The company has offices in New York, London and Hong Kong with over 100 employees worldwide.

Taconic’s vertically integrated commercial real estate business has a distressed focus and invests across asset classes as well as up and down the capital structure, from joint venture equity to senior debt. Taconic benefits from differentiated relationships and sourcing channels including CMBS special servicers as well a robust network of lenders, operators and investor partners across the U.S. Taconic’s commercial real estate investments to-date represent approximately $2.6 billion of value and over 150 distinct transactions.

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