In what marks the second-largest hotel sale in Calgary in recent years, the 355-room downtown Hyatt Regency Hotel has changed hands in a transaction valued at well over $100 million. 

Mark Sparrow, executive vice-president, CBRE Hotels Institutional Group, confirmed the iconic property sold for a price between the $112.5 million sale of the Residence Inn in 2024 and the $145 million transaction of the Westin Calgary in 2019.

RENX has learned the new owner is the Fallsview Group, based in Niagara Falls, which has a number of hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions in southern Ontario. The seller was the well-known Calgary Mannix family, which had originally developed the hotel. 

Luke Scheer, executive vice-president, CBRE Hotels, also worked on the deal and the listing agent was Greg Kwong, executive chair – Alberta at CBRE Canada, who is based in Calgary. 

“It’s one of the larger hotels in the city, though not the largest. It’s a full-service hotel with meeting and conference space, as well as restaurants. It’s considered one of the higher-end hotels in downtown Calgary,” Sparrow told RENX. 

“The hotel is incredibly well-built, and the location is excellent for both corporate and leisure guests. It connects to the old conference centre, which is important for corporate business, and has strong meeting space internally. It’s also close to numerous demand generators including restaurants and leisure activities.”

He said the hotel had been on the market since the middle of 2024, a typical time frame for hotel transactions which usually take between six to nine months to close.

Fallsview and the Calgary Hyatt Regency

Sparrow confirmed this is Fallsview’s first hotel outside of the Niagara Falls area and the firm's first hotel in Alberta.

What made the company look at this property?

“The institutional quality of this hotel, alongside a global brand associated with Hyatt,” he explained.

In a LinkedIn post, Scheer said the seller was also advised by Four Corners Advisors Inc., the hotel’s asset manager, and its president, Michael Shindler, who served as chair of the seller’s advisory board. BMO successfully led the financing of this transaction.

Sparrow said the hotel industry in Canada is performing very well relative to some other commercial sectors.

“It's definitely seen as a favourable investment opportunity currently. The hotel business in Canada, from a transaction standpoint, typically does anywhere from $1.5 to $2.5 billion in transaction activity annually, which is about 100 to 130 hotels that trade across the country," he explained.

"Most of those are smaller transactions between $5 million and $25 million, mostly between private investors across the country. It's not very often you see transactions of $50 million or more.

“Last year, we transacted the Residence Inn in downtown Calgary for $112 million to a private investor from Quadreal Properties. We've also now done the Hyatt transaction, which is higher than that amount, but I can’t specify the total.”

New hotel development on upswing

In Canada, Sparrow said, the supply of new hotels definitely slowed down during the COVID period. 

“However, we’ve seen an uptick in new development over the past 12 months, and we anticipate that will continue over the next 24 to 36 months as new hotels enter major markets," Sparrow said. "We’re seeing this across the country, but there are still pockets like Vancouver and downtown Toronto that are under-supplied.

"These markets typically have occupancy rates above 75 per cent, which can lead to compression and higher rates. Rates are crucial for hotels as they drive profitability, which in turn drives valuation.”

Sparrow said occupancy is very close to pre-pandemic levels.

However, the industry has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in the average daily rate (ADR). From a RevPAR perspective, which combines occupancy and ADR, revenue per available room, the industry has exceeded pre-pandemic levels and is significantly ahead, especially in major markets.

“The majority of hotel investment continues to come from private hotel owners who have regional portfolios and want to expand. These owners typically operate the hotels themselves under franchise agreements with larger brands, though they have their own management companies,” he said. 

“What’s interesting in the last 12 to 18 months is the increase in investment from non-hotel owners looking for exposure in the hospitality sector, especially given the strong operating background that we’ve seen coming out of COVID with strong rates really driving RevPAR.”