The 390-room hotel at the center of downtown Bethesda no longer may be known as a Hyatt come next year.
According to the Washington Business Journal, real estate investment firm The Meridian Group has reacquired the 12-story Hyatt Regency Bethesda at 7400 Wisconsin Ave. for an undisclosed price.
The deal includes plans to renovate the hotel’s lobby, guest rooms, bathrooms and common areas. It also includes a partnership with Highgate Hotels, a hotel management firm that will take over operations at the building.
According to the Washington Business Journal report, Meridian and Highgate are deciding whether the hotel will retain the Hyatt name and brand once its management agreement with the hotel chain expires at the end of the year.
The Meridian Group owned at least a stake in the hotel from 1999 to 2010 before the property was sold for $106 million at a foreclosure auction in August 2012. The developer has experience owning other properties on the Bethesda Metro Plaza. In 2011, the company sold 3 Bethesda Metro Center, a 17-story office building, to Brookfield Office Properties.
That move came after Meridian was denied a chance to develop a new 16-story office building next door, thanks in part to opposition from neighboring property owners such as Clark Enterprises and the Chevy Chase Land Co.
Brookfield is attempting to convince county planners to allow a new high-rise building on roughly the same spot. Neighbor Clark Enterprises is again fighting the idea.