|
|
--
Will Build a 120 room Hotel on the Campus of the University of Delaware |
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (May 23, 2001) - In a unique partnership between
business and academia, Shaner Hotel Group has announced plans to build
a 120 room hotel on the campus ot the University of Delaware, Newark, Del.
The hotel will be adjacent to the Clayton Hall Conference Center and will
be a learning facility for students and faculty of the university's hotel,
restaurant and institutional management department.
"This is a natural extension of our business expertise," according to Plato Ghinos, vice president of development. Shaner Hotel Group, founded by Lance and Fred Shaner in 1983, owns and or operates hotels in 24 states, and specializes in buying, developing, re-positioning and re-branding hotel properties. "This offers an exciting opportunity for us to broaden our goal of developing new and innovative business partnerships, and at the same time, share our business expertise with the next generation of hoteliers," Ghinos said. Under the terms of the agreement, Shaner will develop and manage the
hotel in partnership with the university. "The hotel's general manager
will be a member of the university faculty," he added, "and University
of Delaware students will be able to utilize the facility as an active
learning environment."
Ghinos said that potential guests will include corporate and academic conference attendees as well as parents, alumni and friends of the university. Ghinos noted that the university conference facilities serve many corporate clients within the Newark and Wilmington areas. According to Ghinos, Shaner is a company that actively seeks new and innovative development projects. It has other hotel development projects underway, including a 15 acre hotel, restaurant and corporate office complex near the Pennsylvania State University campus in State College. He noted that Shaner executives are frequent lecturers in the hotel and restaurant management programs at Penn State. "We feel that this is a natural business relationship for our company," he said. "We have always been leaders in training our own associates," he said, "and now we can showcase our leadership style in an academic environment." Shaner is the 21st largest owner/operator of hotels in the U.S., with 54 hotels and nearly 8,000 rooms in 23 states. Eleven different hotel brands are represented in the Shaner portfolio, which has an asset value in excess of $500 million. |
###
Shaner Hotel Group http://www.shanerhotels.com |