September 25, 2006 - The JW Marriott Denver at Cherry Creek has been sold by one Denver hotel developer to another. 

Denver-based Sage Hospitality Resources announced Monday that it has formed a joint venture with JP Morgan to buy the 11-story property from CDS Hotel Investors, a group led by local developer Charlie Biederman. 

The purchase price was not disclosed. 

The 196-room, $40 million JW Marriott opened in June 2004. It has been managed by Sage Hospitality since last summer. 

"It's a great asset and a great location, and we believe in the long-term value of the real estate," said Walter Isenberg, president and chief executive of Sage Hospitality. "The hotel is performing very well. There are no significant changes on the horizon." 

Sage Hospitality has completed $1.1 billion in hotel acquisitions and developments in the past five years. It owns and operates 47 hotels in 21 states, including 15 in Colorado. Local properties include the Courtyard by Marriott on the 16th Street Mall and the historic Oxford Hotel. 

The company is also in the midst of a $30 million remodel of downtown's shuttered Executive Tower Inn. The property, at 1405 Curtis St., will reopen by early January as a 336-room independent hotel called The Curtis. 

Biederman said the JW Marriott sale is not related to his current $75 million renovation of downtown's Embassy Suites Hotel into the Ritz-Carlton Denver. 

"The JW Marriott was not only a sound financial venture, it was a labor of love," he said. "I wanted to make sure it was in good hands going forward, and I can't think of anybody better to do that than the folks at Sage." 

The 202-room Ritz-Carlton, at 1881 Curtis St., is scheduled to open next spring. The property also features 24 luxury residences that range in price from $800,000 to more than $4 million per unit. 

Staff writer Julie Dunn can be reached at 303-954-1592 or [email protected]. 

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