Norwalk hotel REIT adds first New England property

It did not take long for the newly renamed HEI Hotels & Resorts Inc. to live up to the latter half of its name, after the Norwalk company swooped in to purchase a Vermont resort that traces its history to the namesake of Orvis Corp.
The Equinox Resort & Spa, in Manchester Village, Vt., has been in operation since 1769, the second-longest run of any hotel in the nation.
The Equinox marks HEI”™s first hotel in New England; the closest property to its Norwalk headquarters is the Algonquin Hotel in New York City.
HEI did not reveal what it paid Olympus Real Estate Partners for the resort. The property, which includes a golf course, was recently appraised at $25 million, a Manchester official told the Rutland Herald.
Besides standard resort amenities such as golf and a spa, the Equinox offers falconry, fly-fishing and archery among its activities ”“ which might have held appeal for Charles Orvis, who opened an inn in 1851 that would lay the foundation for the Equinox. Outdoor cataloger Orvis Corp. is also based in Manchester.
HEI indicated it is cutting ties to Equinox manager RockResorts, which promptly took down the resorts Web site. HEI has its own management firm called Merritt Hospitality L.L.C. It recently merged Merritt with its ownership arm HEI Hospitality to form HEI Hotels & Resorts.
It was the second deal HEI revealed in March, after buying the Embassy Suites Orlando Downtown, its seventh hotel in Florida. HEI is also a minority partner in the $600 million W Hollywood Hotel and Residences which broke ground this month.
HEI plans to add additional resorts this year, according to Roger Clark, senior vice president of acquisitions. The company plans to spend between $500 million and $1 billion this year on acquisitions.