Mesa West Capital provided a joint venture led by Regent Partners (Regent) and Mariner Group (Mariner) with $50 million in short-term first mortgage debt to refinance Thompson Savannah, a 193-key luxury hotel Savannah, GA.

The five-year, non-recourse financing takes out the original construction loan on the hotel, a boutique lifestyle brand of Hyatt Hotels developed by joint venture partners Regent, Mariner and Cadre and opened in August 2021.

Located at 201 Port Street, the hotel sits on the southern bank of the Savannah River at the nexus of Savannah’s Historic District and the newly developed Eastern Wharf neighborhood.  The hotel features a signature restaurant, bakery, two bars, pool with private cabanas, fitness and wellness center, and 11,000 square feet of meeting space.

“This financing was an opportunity to provide a moderate leverage loan against a recently delivered, high-quality full-service hotel in one of the top tourist destinations in the country,” said Mesa West’s Russell Frahm who led the New York-based origination team along with Pamir Niaz and Jacob Rosen.  “The Thompson Savannah has continued to generate impressive growth in the key hospitality metrics including occupancy, RevPar and ADR over the past two years.”

The hotel’s performance is a reflection of the tourism industry’s rapid post-pandemic recovery in Savannah.  Ranked by Travel & Leisure as one of the World’s top travel destinations for 10 consecutive years, Savannah has seen hotel demand surge to new heights, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by more than 600,000 guests.  

The financing was arranged by Jared Kelso, Steve Michels and Lauren Greenberg in the New York office of Berkadia’s Hotel and Hospitality Group.