Portman acquires Westin Peachtree Plaza, the Atlanta hotel tower designed by firm’s founder

Portman Hospitality Fund I has acquired the Westin Peachtree Plaza from Marriott International, bringing Atlanta’s most recognizable hotel tower back under the control of the firm that designed and built it nearly 50 years ago.

The deal, announced May 21, reunites a landmark with its creators. The 73-story cylindrical tower at 210 Peachtree St. was originally designed by John C. Portman Jr. and opened in 1976 as the tallest hotel in the world. The building’s mirrored-glass facade still rises 723 feet above downtown Atlanta, and its 1,073 rooms make it one of the largest hotels in the Southeast. Marriott will continue managing the property under a long-term agreement.

Why the deal matters now

The acquisition is the first investment by Portman Hospitality Fund I, LP, a fund the Atlanta-based firm built around a specific thesis that large, branded, full-service hotels in major U.S. cities are entering a renovation cycle, and buyers with in-house design and construction teams are better positioned to profit from that moment than outside investors.

“Hospitality is in Portman’s DNA,” said Kaunteya Chitnis, Portman’s managing director of hospitality. “The Westin Peachtree Plaza is exactly the kind of asset we built the fund to capture: a world-class brand, irreplaceable downtown real estate and a clear repositioning path that we have the in-house expertise to execute.”

Portman plans a full renovation of the hotel’s guest rooms, public spaces, and meeting facilities before Super Bowl LXII, which Atlanta will host in 2028.

A growing hospitality portfolio

The deal follows Portman’s acquisition last year of the 456-room Westin Cincinnati, where renovations are set to begin this year. The two purchases bring Portman’s hospitality portfolio to eight hotels across five markets, with more than 4,000 rooms and roughly $1.5 billion in assets under management.

The firm is also serving as master developer on a 700-room Marriott convention hotel in Cincinnati, which is scheduled to break ground this summer as part of an $828 million redevelopment of the city’s convention district.

Ambrish Baisiwala, Portman’s chairman and CEO, framed the acquisition as part of a longer investment strategy rather than a one-off trophy purchase. “As we continue to grow and diversify our investment platform, we remain focused on opportunities where active ownership, strategic reinvestment and a long-term perspective can create meaningful value for investors and the communities we serve,” he said.

A return to its roots

For Atlanta, the deal closes a kind of loop. The Westin Peachtree Plaza has been part of the downtown Atlanta skyline since the Ford administration. It sits near the Georgia World Congress Center, State Farm Arena, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and is adjacent to the Centennial Yards development, which is reshaping the Gulch neighborhood just south of Marietta Street.

Marriott’s U.S. and Canada CFO Cameron Read said the company supports the transition. “We are confident in their ability to realize the full potential of the iconic Westin Peachtree Plaza in the years ahead,” he said.

Portman, which has developed roughly 80 million square feet of space and deployed more than $20 billion since its founding, has not yet released a timeline or cost estimate for the renovation.