Oct. 6, 2002 --The Peery Hotel may have acquired the key element that has heretofore kept it from carving out a profitable niche in downtown Salt Lake City's hotel market -- stability. 

After going through numerous ownership and management changes since its initial renovation in the mid-1980s, the historic Peery was purchased in late June by Sage Hospitality Resources, a Denver-based pillar of steadiness with 96 hotel operations in 33 states. 

"I can't really speak to what has happened in the past," said Sage Hospitality spokesman Brad Robinette, "but we have a different level of commitment from the last several management groups. We are the owner and we have experience getting hotels established in a community. 

"Clearly it will take some time because of the rough times the hotel has had. We have to prove ourselves, and we understand that," he added. "That actually creates excitement with us." 

Sage decided to move into Utah after a site visit in April. Company officials liked the aesthetics of the Peery, which was built in 1910 at 110 W. 300 South and is on the National Register of Historic Places. What's more, most of its 73 rooms had been spruced up just three years ago in a $4 million upgrade designed to make the Peery a high-end boutique hotel heading into the Olympics. 

"It was just a wonderful historic gem in Salt Lake City," said Robinette, noting that Sage officials also were impressed by its proximity to the Salt Palace Convention Center, Delta Center, Symphony Hall, theaters and the University of Utah. 

"It's a rich hotel market at this time, but we feel good about the potential from a business-demand standpoint. We like what's going on from a convention standpoint and feel we can get our share of that business," he said. 

The Olympic afterglow also helped. "Clearly, the exposure and the awareness created a groundswell for Salt Lake that will benefit the market for years to come. You saw it happen in Los Angeles [after the 1984 Games]. You saw it happen in Atlanta [1996 Olympics]. I think it will will be a bigger contributor here, given the size of the market . . . and the spectacular effort by the organizing committee and local people," Robinette said. "Given all the concerns and threats, the Olympics were flawless from an outsider's perspective." 

Sage's interest in the Peery "thrilled" Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau President Dianne Binger. 

"Talk about professionals who know the industry and what it takes to be good marketers," she said, summing up the impressions of bureau executives after they met earlier this year in Denver with Robinette and Sage president Walter Isenberg. That get-together took place at the Sage-operated Oxford Hotel, which is comparable to the Peery in age, structure and function. 

Binger was pleased that both Isenberg and Robinette have been leaders of Denver's convention bureau, believe in community involvement and recognize the importance of having a strong sales and marketing team (the Peery's sales team has grown from one to three since Sage took over). 

"One of the challenges we've had with the Peery is its revolving door with management," Binger said. "In looking at Sage and what they've done elsewhere, particularly in Denver, they've achieved a lot through their marketing efforts and tender loving care." 

Besides fixing up and running the Oxford Hotel, Sage also has received plaudits in Denver for transforming a 116-year-old department store into a 177-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel with 6,600 square feet of meetings space, a restaurant, coffee shop and retail stores. 

"They turned this vacant building inside out and did a phenomenal job. They have a very thoughtful approach to historic preservation," said Ben Kelly, a spokesman for Downtown Denver Partnership, Inc. He also cited Sage's good relations with Denver's restaurants, retailers and arts groups, particularly a program of providing free gallery space at the Courtyard by Marriott to art students from the University of Colorado-Denver and Metropolitan State University. 

"That has elevated their reputation in Denver," Kelly said. 

In Pittsburgh, Sage recently renovated a 92-year-old office building into a 300-room Renaissance Hotel, part of a downtown redevelopment that also includes construction of two sports stadiums and a convention center. The project earned a "2001 Hotel of the Year" honor from Marriott International, which controls the Renaissance franchise, and praise from Pittsburgh redevelopment official Tom Bayuzik. 

"It came at a great time when we are trying to cast a new image of the city. Sage did a great job restoring the building. It has an awesome atrium. It's really second to none. They put a nice product on the street," he said. 

Milwaukee's urban renewal also features a Sage product: a $21 million, 131-suite Residence Inn by Marriott. Midway between a new convention center and an art museum, the hotel had been an abandoned department store of five patched-together buildings until Sage and partners began converting the century-old structure. 

Said William Orenstein, president of one of Sage's partners: "We had a difficult project. But they're terrific people, knowledgeable, experienced, extremely professional. They knew how to work with the National Register of Historic Places . . . and they get along fine with Marriott, which is not easy to do because they're [Marriott] very demanding." 

There is a simple reason for that "excellent working relationship," said Steve Joyce, Marriott's executive vice president of Owner and Franchise Services. "Sage has a real knack for finding beautiful old buildings and turning them into vibrant new hotels. The transformation of the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel is just one spectacular ex- ample." 

Like it has done in these other cities, Sage is eager to add some of its own flair to the Peery and to work with the Salt Lake community, Robinette said. 

The company has set aside $500,000 for some structural upgrades, meeting-room improvements and a few extra niceties in the lobby, such as better lighting. Sage is interested in talking with Utah universities about art work for the hotel, as well as creating internships for students in hospitality programs. And it is looking to develop partnerships with downtown restaurants and arts groups. 

"The most important thing to take care of is our own back yard -- the business and social community of Salt Lake," Robinette said. "If we do a great job there, we can take care of our business." 

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(c) 2002, The Salt Lake Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. MAR,