By SHERRI KOLADE
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN — After a couple of stumbling blocks, a new management deal, as of Thursday, has turned the former Hyatt Regency Dearborn Hotel into an eco-friendly Adoba hotel.
The new management, Atmosphere Hospitality Management LLC, based in Highlands Ranch, Colo., is operating the former Hyatt, 600 Town Center Drive, and changing the 14-story, 62,000-square-foot, 772-room hotel into the Adoba Hotel Dearborn/Detroit.
The former Hyatt Regency’s contract expired Oct. 31 and the hotel’s new owners, Royal Realties, LLC, plan to begin a “multi-year agreement” contract, hotel General Manager Peter McMahon said in a statement.
In May, a disagreement occurred on a contract between the management and the hotel owners, which led the former Hyatt Regency to terminate its management.
Subsequently, former Hyatt Hotels Corp. officials told the hotel’s 322 full-time and part-time employees in late August they would lay them off by the end of October when the management agreement expired.
On Sept. 25 the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group announced it would enter into a long-term management agreement and rehire the employees. In mid-October, the management agreement soured between Royal Realties, LLC, and the hotel group, a company launched earlier this year based in Minneapolis and Brussels, Belgium, planned to begin a multimillion-dollar renovation on the hotel after its contract expired.
The group backed out of the deal shortly after making the management agreement announcement on its website.
Atmosphere Hospitality Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Adrienne Pumphrey said on Oct. 31 Atmosphere Hospitality has hired about 85 percent of the hotel’s current employees and they plan to hire the rest as soon as possible.
“We are transitioning all the associates and not everybody was immediately available (for rehiring because of schedule conflicts),” Pumphrey said. “We hope to confirm the remaining (employees). It is really good news. It has been great, they are happy to have an understanding that the building is not closing down. They are super supportive, grateful, positive (and) very embracing.”
Pumphrey did not disclose the specifics of the management agreement but she said the management company is currently in its due diligence phase and Atmosphere Hospitality will write a letter of intent to purchase the property within 60 days.
“We look forward to having the opportunity to host the customers,” Pumphrey said. “We are looking forward to coming into the community and offering a great level of service they have become accustomed to and, as a green hotel leader in the hospitality industry, we look forward to bringing our sustainable practices and programs to further reduce our overall carbon footprint.”
According to Atmosphere’s website, Atmosphere Hospitality Management was founded in 2010 and opened a 177-room Adoba Eco Hotel in Rapid City, S.D.
The green hotel initiative is designed for maximum energy efficiency and sustainable environmental long-term performance, according to the website.
According to a published report, the new management plans to make the property Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certified — an internationally recognized “green” building certification system — within 36 months.
(Sherri Kolade can be reached at [email protected].)