Liberty Group buys Bradenton Holiday Inn

BUYER: Liberty Bradenton Investment LLC (Liberty Group of Cos.), Tampa

FORMER OWNER: Sroka Hospitality Inc.

PROPERTY: 648 67th St. Circle E., Bradenton

PRICE: Undisclosed

PREVIOUS PRICE: $7.2 million, September 2007

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The Tampa-based Liberty Group of Cos. expects to take title to the 60-room Holiday Inn Express in Bradenton in the next 30 days. The Liberty Group's purchase entity, Liberty Bradenton Investment LLC, acquired a $4.2 million non-performing senior mortgage secured by the hotel and has negotiated a stipulated foreclosure agreement with the existing borrower.

Financial terms of the mortgage debt purchase were not disclosed.

Liberty Hospitality Management will manage the hotel.

“There was a lot of under management,” says Punit Shah, president and chief operating officer of the Liberty Group of Cos. “The prior owners were not professional hotel owners and managers. It needs a significant amount of work. There was a lot of deferred maintenance, and we are going to be investing a significant amount of capital.”

Along with a number of cosmetic upgrades and renovations to the hotel, the new owner is investigating changes to the marketing and possibly the hotel flag.

Shah says the company was attracted to the hotel's location in what he describes as a growing submarket of Bradenton, which he says is also growing.

Founded in 1980 by hotelier Raxit Shah, the firm has invested more than $250 million in various real estate ventures. Among its other holdings, the company owns the Bristol Court Assisted Living Facility in St. Petersburg, Comfort Suites in Clearwater, the Holiday Inn Express Telecom Park in Tampa and the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Venice-Sarasota.