citizenM launches Italian acquisition fund, expands in U.S.

by TOPHOTELNEWS Editor | 01 Jun 2020 | Chains

The US is set to welcome a host of new citizenM properties in the coming years. (Picture: Departures International)

Despite the current COVID challenges, Netherlands-based citizenM acquires a property in Rome that will become a 160-room citizenM hotel.

Global affordable-luxury hotel brand, citizenM, continues to grow during this relatively quiet period in hotel activity.

Working on 20-plus new U.S. locations over the next five years and with openings for 2020 planned in Seattle and Washington, D.C., citizenM has now entered the Italian market, with a just-announced acquisition of a property in Rome that will become a 160-room citizenM hotel.

This is the first acquisition from a joint venture between citizenM and the European asset manager Antirion, which establishes a new fund to invest in existing Italian assets that are suitable for hotel conversion.

The news follows a recent announcement of citizenM’s fourth Paris property, set to open later this year on the Champs-Élysées, as well as a ribbon-cutting soon in Geneva, Switzerland. The company also has new hotels under construction in Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, and a second in Seattle along with a second in Washington, D.C.

A tech-focused hotelier, the company has donated thousands of its tablet computers, MoodPads, to hospitals in London, New York, Paris, and Rotterdam to help them during the pandemic.

20-plus new US sites over 5 years

The Netherlands-based developer, owner and operator is known for its tech-forward, affordable-luxury model and its embrace of innovative practices such as modular construction.
The company’s decision to set out its ambitious US rollout strategy comes on the back of a busy 2019.

This included the opening of citizenM Boston North Station, a 272-room hotel which opened in August 2019, and a groundbreaking at citizenM Miami Worldcenter, part of the 27-acre, $4 billion Miami Worldcenter megadevelopment. Construction is now underway for the 12-story, 351-room hotel, which joins two other citizenM properties under development in Miami, citizenM Miami Brickell and citizenM Miami South Beach.

Plans were announced for citizenM Chicago Downtown, a 280-room hotel in the heart of Chicago’s Magnificent Mile. A critical component of a larger mixed-use development at 300 North Michigan Avenue, the project includes a 47-story tower with 289 residential units, 25,000 sq ft of retail space and 280 hotel rooms.

Two major California properties were launched: the 315-room citizenM Los Angeles Downtown, a modular, 11-story hotel building now under construction, and the 195-room citizenM San Francisco Union Square, one of three projects planned for the bay area.

Early in 2019, meanwhile, citizenM secured GIC as a major new investor. The sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Singapore took a 25% stake in citizenM, valuing the business at €2 billion.