Choice Hotels to Bring New Cambria Asset to Fort Lauderdale

Groundbreaking of Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach. Image courtesy of Patty Daniels Photography

Choice Hotels International Inc. is continuing the expansion of its upscale Cambria Hotel brand with construction beginning on its second hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The 104-key asset will be called Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach and is scheduled to open in 2020.

Located at 2231 N. Ocean Blvd. and within walking distance to the public North Beach, the hotel will offer ocean views and easy access to the city’s popular waterfront promenade with retail and dining options. Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Beach will also be a short drive from the Broward County Convention Center; Port Everglades, one of the world’s busiest cruise terminals; and several corporate headquarters, including DHL Solutions America, SATO Global Solutions and Spirit Airlines.

Fort Lauderdale has more than 10 million leisure and business travel visitors annually, according to Janis Cannon, senior vice president, upscale brands, Choice Hotels. The company’s first Cambria facility is Cambria Hotel Fort Lauderdale Airport South & Cruise Port.

The new hotel is being developed by Hotel Motel Inc., for the Rockville, Md.,-based hospitality company. Owner Jai Motwani is an experienced developer with several hotels located in South Florida.

The Cambria Hotels brand is designed for the modern traveler and offers spacious and comfortable rooms, locally inspired designs, flexible meeting space and on-site freshly prepared local food and craft beer, wine and specialty cocktails. Other upscale amenities will include spa-style bathrooms with Bluetooth mirrors and a state-of-the-fitness center.

Growing choice

Choice has opened more than 40 Cambria hotels across the U.S. in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, New Orleans, Phoenix and Washington, D.C. Company officials stated in the first-quarter 2019 earnings report released earlier this month that Choice has grown the number of guestrooms in its upscale brands, Cambria and Ascend, by 12 percent between March 31, 2018, and March 31 of this year. In the first quarter, Choice opened two new Cambria hotels in Nebraska and New Jersey, both of which represent the first Cambria hotels in their states. The company also broke ground on an adaptive reuse project for Cambria in a downtown Los Angeles office building. The 14-story building at 419 Spring St. is 90 years old. Developer Oceans V received a $50.9 million loan in December to fund construction of the 180-key Cambria Hotel & Suites.

Choice stated in the first-quarter earnings report that it had advanced approximately $47 million to support the brand’s development during the first three months of the year. It also noted it had recycled approximately $20 million of prior investments in Cambria Hotels development projects, resulting in net advances of $27 million for the first quarter.

In addition to the Fort Lauderdale announcement, Choice has begun several other second-quarter investments in the Cambria brand. Last week, it said the first hotel in Vermont would be developed by Hospitality Funding Inc. and TQP Capital Partners. The 142-key hotel is slated to open in 2020 in Burlington, Vt., at 266 College Ave. An adaptive reuse project, the hotel will be built in the former Greater Burlington YMCA and located near the University of Vermont and the UVM Medical Center.

Late last year, Choice selected Mopac Development to develop a 135-key Cambria Hotel Austin in Austin, Texas. The new hotel is slated to open in 2021 at 13201 Burnet Road within a mixed-used development in the city’s high-tech corridor. It will be near the regional offices of Apple, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Dell, as well the Domain Shopping Mall, Rock Rose Entertainment District and the University of Texas at Austin.

In September, Choice opened Cambria Hotel Westfield, a 152-key hotel in Westfield, Ind., the second Cambria property in the Indianapolis area. Located at 18592 Carousel Lane, it is a short drive to downtown Indianapolis and close to the Indianapolis Convention Center and numerous area attractions.