Hyatt Sells Regency Hotel in Canada, Builds New One in Japan

Hyatt Regency Naha

By Balazs Szekely, Associate Editor

Vancouver, Canada; Naha, Japan—In early December, Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced the sale of Hyatt Regency Vancouver and the plans to develop a new Regency-branded hotel in Naha, Japan.

The 644-room hotel in Vancouver was sold to an affiliate of InnVest for approximately $123 million, around $190,000 per key. Centrally located at Burrard Street and West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver, the hotel features more than 45,000 square feet of meeting and event space, a Starbucks®, Grain Tasting Bar, which offers regional wine and craft beer and Mosaic Bar and Grill, which features locally sourced produce, sustainable seafood and signature cocktails. The facility continues to operate as a Hyatt Regency hotel.

“By continuing to execute on our asset recycling strategy, we are able to strategically plan for growth in locations where Hyatt brands are underrepresented while retaining our brand presence in key cities around the world,” Stephen Haggerty, global head of capital strategy, franchising and select service for Hyatt says.

The other hotel is being built in Naha—the political, economic and education center of Okinawa, Japan—under a Hyatt affiliate’s franchise agreement with PHR Okinawa Hotel Management Ltd., a subsidiary of Ken Corporation, Ltd. The hotel will feature 294 rooms, four food and beverage outlets, a meeting space, a fitness center and an outdoor swimming pool. Within walking distance to Kokusai-dori, the city’s main tourism and entertainment district, it will also offer quick access to Naha International Airport, which fewer less than three miles away from the site. Hyatt Regency Naha is expected to open before the end of next year and it will be the first member of the Hyatt brand on the island of Okinawa.