Dive Brief:
- AJ Capital Partners acquired the Mid Pines Inn and Pine Needles Lodge in Southern Pines, North Carolina, according to an announcement Thursday. The Nashville, Tennessee-based real estate and hospitality firm plans to renovate and convert the properties under its golf-focused Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts brand.
- The 1920s-era sister properties sit beside championship golf courses Mid Pines and Pine Needles. AJ Capital plans to restore and renovate both hotels, as well as add new dining concepts.
- The acquisitions are part of a broader expansion of the U.K.-based Marine & Lawn brand, which is also growing its footprint in Scotland. Mid Pines Inn and Pine Needles Lodge are Marine & Lawn’s first properties in the U.S.
Dive Insight:
Marine & Lawn “takes a refined approach to hospitality, design, world-renowned dining, and prime access to some of the world’s most prestigious golf courses,” according to AJ Capital.
With the recent additions — which include the acquisition of the historic Greywalls Hotel in Scotland — Marine & Lawn will boast eight properties across the U.K. and the U.S.
AJ Capital CEO and founder Ben Weprin said the acquisitions represent “a pivotal milestone for Marine & Lawn.”
“Since launching the brand in 2019, our ambition has always been to honor golf’s most legendary locales with world-class hospitality,” Weprin said in a statement, noting that the addition of these properties allows the firm “to bring that vision to life on both sides of the Atlantic.”
AJ Capital Partners developed and launched the Graduate Hotels brand, which Hilton acquired last year.
AJ Capital continues to own real estate assets belonging to its Graduate Hotels brand, which Hilton is now expanding. Hilton named former Graduate Hotels President Kevin Osterhaus its president of global lifestyle brands last year.
Elsewhere in the U.S., Dream Golf is developing a 2,400-acre golf-focused resort in East Texas.
Sports-related travel is on the rise, hospitality pros told Hotel Dive earlier this year.
