Orlando Performing Arts Center District

SAG is managing the development of a nine acre site in downtown Orlando for the Orlando Performing Arts Center Corporation.  The site includes a 2,800-seat theater, 1,800-seat theater, 300-seat theater, 200-room hotel, two 400,000 sf office buildings, and 500 residential condominium units.  SAG helped the Corporation program the site, hire the consulting team, identify a developer for each component, negotiate contracts, create a public-private finance and operating plan, liaise  with the Board, City and County, and service as the Corporation’s representative an all aspects of the $800m development.

SAG team members assisted with creating and implementing the strategy for developing Centennial Olympic Park to be used during the Olympics as a gathering place, and as a state park after the Olympics.  We worked with the State on the due diligence efforts that entailed the coordination of appraisal teams, environmental teams, finance specialists, and cost estimators, and was responsible for preparing the briefing to get the project approved by the Governor and State.  Once the park was approved, we coordinated the redevelopment of the 100-acres surrounding Centennial Olympic Park through a public-private partnership for Central Atlanta Progress, the City of Atlanta and the business community.  The 18-month initiative included hosting an Urban Land Institute panel, coordinating the architecture master planning team, fund raising, assembling landowners, soliciting developers, working with financial institutions, and establishing an ongoing organization to see the project through to completion.  Today, the area is now home to an Embassy Suites hotel, new Phillips Arena, residential condominiums, World of Coca-Cola museum, and the new Georgia Aquarium – the world’s largest salt water aquarium.

Washington, DC Headquarter Hotel

SAG helped the District of Columbia develop a 1,500-room hotel adjacent to the new Washington Convention Center.  SAG led the pre-development process, including, project sizing, site selection, site acquisition, land swap negotiations, developer identification, contract negotiations, finance plan development, design evaluation, development budget review, room block agreement negotiations, numerous stake holder and City Council presentations, and a number of other tasks required in our role of representing the District in the transaction.   After evaluating a number of approaches to the project, the District decided to develop the hotel via a public-private partnership.   The hotel will be privately owned by a developer teamed with Marriott.  The project’s capitalization included private debt and equity, and public support in the form of a subordinated land lease, conduit financing, and a grant funded by a bond offering repaid by a portion of the taxes generated by the hotel.

Hilton Americas Houston

SAG provided pre-development management services for the development of a 1,200-room convention center headquarter hotel adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX.  SAG led a multi-faceted team assisting the City with creating the development and financing strategy, establishing a non-profit corporation to facilitate financing and operations, preparing the financial models, selecting the most appropriate project delivery method, writing RFQ/RFP’s for other team members (architect, developer, operator) and basically playing the quarterback role until the developer was hired.  SAG’s role continued as “owner’s representative” throughout the construction process.  The hotel opened in 2003 and is managed by Hilton.