Hersha Hotels and Resorts, a KSL portfolio company, has acquired The Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa for an undisclosed price. JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group represented the seller in the transaction, making this the third time JLL has sold the asset in 10 years.
The Westin Savannah Harbor is downtown Savannah's only urban resort, situated on 299 acres on rapidly developing Hutchinson Island with direct adjacency to the recently expanded Savannah Convention Center.
The property has 403 guestrooms, more than 51,800 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting venues, five food-and-beverage outlets, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Cupp and Sam Snead, a 17-treatment-room Heavenly Spa by Westin, a pool with river views, tennis and pickleball facilities and an 18-hole disc golf course. The amenity offerings distinguish the property from traditional urban hotels in the market.
The adjacent Savannah Convention Center completed its $276 million expansion in April, doubling its footprint to 660,000 square feet and establishing it as the 10th-largest convention center in the southeastern United States. The expansion added 100,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 40,000-square-foot ballroom and 14 new meeting rooms.
Savannah continues to experience robust economic growth driven by multiple sectors, including the Port of Savannah as the fastest-growing port on the U.S. East Coast, and significant corporate investments such as Hyundai Motor Group's new $7.6 billion Metaplant which opened in March and introduced 14,000 jobs to the market.
The JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group team was led by Senior Managing Director Andrew Dickey, Senior Director Maciej Polek and Vice President Derek Hayden. “Savannah continues to demonstrate exceptional momentum as both a leisure destination and thriving corporate market,” Dickey said in a statement. “The Westin's unique positioning adjacent to the expanded convention center, coupled with being the only true resort in the market with excess land that will benefit from the residential success in Savannah Harbor, creates a compelling value proposition that sets it apart from traditional urban hotels in this rapidly growing market.”