Thompson Hotel in Savannah, GA Receives $50M Refinance Loan

Mesa West Capital has granted a $50 million short-term first mortgage refinance loan to a joint venture led by Regent Partners and Mariner Group. The loan is for the Thompson Savannah, a 193-room luxury hotel on the southern bank of the Savannah River in Savannah, GA.

The five-year, non-recourse financing has been used to pay off the original construction loan for the hotel. Joint venture partners Regent, Mariner, and Cadre developed the hotel, which opened in August 2021.

The Thompson Savannah is located at 201 Port Street, at the intersection of Savannah’s Historic District and the newly developed Eastern Wharf neighborhood. The hotel boasts a signature restaurant, bakery, two bars, a pool with private cabanas, a fitness and wellness center, and 11,000 square feet of meeting space.

Russell Frahm, Mesa West’s, who led the New York-based origination team with Pamir Niaz and Jacob Rosen, sees this financing as moderate leverage against a high-quality full-service hotel in a top tourist destination. The Thompson Savannah has shown significant growth in key hospitality metrics such as occupancy, RevPar and ADR over the past two years.

The hotel’s strong performance indicates the quick recovery of the tourism industry in Savannah post-pandemic. Savannah, which has been ranked as one of the world’s top travel destinations by Travel & Leisure for 10 years straight, has skyrocketed its hotel demand. It currently exceeds pre-pandemic levels by more than 600,000 guests.

Jared Kelso, Steve Michels, and Lauren Greenberg from Berkadia’s Hotel and Hospitality Group’s New York office drafted the financing agreement.