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Garfield Traub Selected From Field of Five Development
Teams to Develop 500-room Sheraton Hotel Adjacent
the Puerto Rico Convention Center 
DALLAS (March 25, 2004) � Garfield Traub Development LLC announced today that it has been selected to develop a $175-million mixed-use development which will anchor the new 580,000-sq. ft. Puerto Rico Convention Center in San Juan, P.R.  The announcement was made by Commerce and Economic Development Secretary of Puerto Rico, Milton Segarra, and the Executive Director of the District Authority of the Puerto Rico Convention Center, Manual Sanchez Biscombe.

Garfield Traub�s development partner is Interlink Group, a prominent residential, commercial and hotel development company in Puerto Rico for more than 27 years.

The $198-million convention center is currently under construction on 113 acres on the peninsula of Isla Grande next to historic Old San Juan and is scheduled for completion in mid-2005. The Puerto Rico Convention Center is the centerpiece of the Puerto Rico Convention District and will enable the island to better capitalize on the existing tourism appeal of the island by attracting groups with 2,500 to 4,500 conventioneers � and as many as 10,000 conventioneers for a city-wide event. There are plans to expand the convention center to 1.3-million sq. ft. in the future. It is the largest mixed-use commercial real estate project in Puerto Rico.

The Garfield Traub team was selected to develop the headquarters hotel by the Puerto Rico Convention Center District Authority from a competitive field of five highly regarded international development teams and hotel companies.

In addition to Garfield Traub and Interlink, other key members of the development team include Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, which leads the convention market with a dominant portfolio of group hotels among global gateway destinations; RTKL International Ltd., the largest volume hospitality architectural firm in the Americas; Ray Architects, one of the pre-eminent architectural firms in Puerto Rico; and UBS Financial Services Incorporated of Puerto Rico (UBS), the leading investment banker in the Caribbean.

The development, which is scheduled to open in mid-2007, will include a 500-room Sheraton hotel operated by Starwood, 63,000-sq. ft. of meeting and banquet facilities, a 15,000-sq. ft. spa, restaurants and several outdoor pools. With design elements of an urban resort, this development also includes 50,000-sq. ft. of retail space, an eight-screen cinema complex, a 10,000-sq. ft. casino and a 30,000-sq. ft. multi-level nightclub/entertainment venue with a music hall for live performances. All of the facilities will have street-level entrances for visitors to the District.

�We�re excited to be part of this world-class development, which will be the largest and finest destination of its kind in the Caribbean,� said Garfield Traub Development Principal Ray Garfield. �After more than a decade of planning by the District, we are very proud to have the opportunity to deliver this essential facility for the Puerto Rican tourism industry and for the District Authority of the Puerto Rico Convention Center.�

�The proposal by Garfield Traub was the most solid and attractive,� said Segarra. �The preliminary architectural design conveyed a more complete vision of the district, a mixed-use development project, which includes a convention center, hotel, commercial spaces and residential units.�  Segarra, also president of the Convention District Board of Directors, added that the District has potential for a total of $1.3 billion of total development, which could bring approximately $300 million annually to the country�s economy.

�We believe that the level of experience of our team members and our ability to work together, as evidenced by past successes, is the key to making this development succeed,� said Jerry R. Thoele President and COO, Garfield Traub Hospitality Division. Thoele added that he feels a significant factor in being selected was the global presence and equity associated with the Sheraton brand and the state-of-the-art operating systems and performance of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide as presented to the selection committee by Ted Darnall, President, Real Estate Group, and other Starwood executives. 

Garfield Traub and Starwood previously teamed on the 412-room Sheraton Overland Park at the Convention Center, Overland Park, Kan., which received the Design Build Institute of America (DBIA) 2003 National Award and its Starwood 2003 Guest Satisfaction Index ranks the hotel in the top 10 of all 200 Sheratons in North America.

About Garfield Traub
Dallas-based Garfield Traub Development is a national real estate development firm that uses innovative and cost-effective financing methods to offer turnkey solutions tailored towards the requirements of the public sector and institutional clients. The company�s offices are organized to offer a complete development solution that includes site identification and acquisition, zoning and entitlement, financing, design and construction, leasing and management.

Over the course of more than three decades, the principals and officers of Garfield Traub Development LLC have developed more than 11-million square feet of all property types, including numerous hospitality and retail developments, and have financed more than $9 billion in debt and equity. The experience of Garfield Traub's management team includes the financing and development of more than 100 hotels and $3.5 billion of debt and equity under both private and non-profit ownership structures and operating or asset management experience with more than 250 hotels and resorts.


 
Contact:
Garfield Traub Development 
Kathy DeCarlucci
Vice President
972-991-5200
[email protected]
www.garfieldco.com

 
Also See: Fort Worth Officials Pick Four Hotel Developers to Interview for the Convention Center Hotel Project / November 2003
Puerto Rico Convention Center at 580,000 Sq Ft Likely to Redefine the tourism landscape for San Juan / June 2003


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