People on the Move
Paragon Events is proud to announce that Francesca Radabaugh, CAE has been appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of Paragon Events and President of the company’s Association Management Division, effective immediately. During her time at Paragon Events, Francesca has worked in every department: event, marketing, accounting. She took over the association management department and operations in 2015 as the Vice President of Operations and Director of Association Management. Throughout her 15 years at the company, she has remained a pillar of leadership and strength for the entire team and even clientele.
Visit St. Pete/Clearwater is excited to welcome Brian Hilterbrandt as its new Sales Manager for the Florida market as part of the Meetings & Conventions team. Hilterbrandt brings more than 25 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry and extensive knowledge and relationships to VSPC’s team of sales experts. Hilterbrandt’s decades-long tenure in the tourism and hospitality industry includes dedicating 28 years to Marriott International, spanning positions from Director of Sales and Marketing to Area Sales Manager managing six hotel sales teams. His arrival comes on the heels of record-breaking visitation and the return of meetings business to St. Pete/Clearwater. He starts Aug. 16.
Venue News
The AC Hotel Greenville Downtown opened earlier this year in Greenville, SC, and is rapidly emerging as a coveted destination due to its proximity to both Atlanta and Charlotte, charming downtown, growing culinary talent, impressive arts scene and more. The hotel is nestled in the heart of downtown on the city’s award-winning Main Street and it boasts nearly 29,000 square feet of beautiful, unique and modern meeting and event space. Throughout the hotel’s eight floors is nearly 10,000 square feet of dedicated meeting and event space providing a variety of high-design interior spaces and outdoor settings. An additional 19,000 square feet of space is available through the hotel’s food and beverage outlets. Natural light, contemporary design and works by local artists enhance the flexible and open spaces that can accommodate everything from corporate meetings, training sessions and presentations, to weddings and other celebratory events. Cutting-edge facilities provide the latest high-tech equipment and outstanding catering services ensure a flawless and memorable business or social event. AC Hotel Greenville Downtown’s meeting and event space includes Jasmine Hall, Reedy Hall, The Loft, Main & Broad, and The Library.
Hot Off the Presses
Flynn Properties Inc. (“Flynn”), owner of commercial real estate, luxury resorts and select service hotel properties in America and abroad, in a joint venture with Värde Partners, a leading global alternative investment firm, today announced that it has acquired 20 select service hotels – 11 Marriott®- and nine Hilton®-branded locations – in a $211 million deal with Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE: APLE), a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns one of the largest and most diverse portfolios of upscale, rooms-focused hotels in the United States. The newly acquired properties, located throughout the Sunbelt, Northeast, Pacific Northwest and Midwest, will undergo capital improvements over time. Flynn Properties will serve as the managing member of the joint venture, charged with day-to-day asset management of the portfolio and execution of the business plan. This acquisition will bring Flynn Properties’ select service hotel portfolio to 26 properties, complementing the six existing Marriott-branded hotels it currently owns. Flynn Properties is a division of San Francisco-based Flynn Holdings, which has two principal businesses: real estate and restaurants. Flynn Properties’ prior hotel investments include six Marriott Courtyards as well as four super-luxury resorts: Esperanza in Los Cabos, Mexico, the Carneros Resort & Spa and Solage, both located in Napa, California, and the Hotel Madeline in Telluride, Colorado. Its commercial investments consist primarily of tech-oriented office buildings on the West Coast totaling over 3 million square feet. Its affiliate, Flynn Restaurant Group LP, is the largest franchise restaurant operator in the world and one of the 20 largest foodservice companies of any kind in the United States, owning and operating 2,400 restaurants in 44 states generating $3.6 billion in sales and employing approximately 73,000 people.
