Iowa City, Ia. – June 29, 2017 – AJ Capital Partners announced today that it has acquired the Sheraton Iowa City in Iowa City, Iowa from leading investment firm, Rockbridge. The hotel will undergo a comprehensive renovation to convert to a Graduate hotel by summer 2018. The nine-story, 234-room hotel is located on South Dubuque Street on downtown Iowa City’s Ped Mall near the University of Iowa.

Located just a block from the University of Iowa campus, the hotel benefits from an indoor public walkway connecting the hotel with direct access to the city’s Pedestrian Mall home to many restaurants, bars and retail shops. With over 13,000 square feet of meeting and event space, a fitness center, indoor pool and restaurant, hotel is an established destination for University visitors, business and leisure travelers, and locals alike.

Created for travelers who seek memory-making journeys, Graduate Hotels are part of a well-curated, thoughtfully crafted collection of hotels that reside in the most dynamic, university-anchored cities across the country. Every property celebrates and commemorates the optimistic energy of its community, while offering an extended retreat to places that often played host to the best days of our lives. Locations include Ann Arbor, Mi.; Athens, Ga.; Berkeley, Ca.; Charlottesville, Va.; Lincoln, Ne.; Madison, Wi.; Oxford, Ms.; Richmond, Va.; and Tempe, Az. Bloomington, In.; Minneapolis, Mn.; Seattle, Wa.; and New York City’s Roosevelt Island as part of the Cornell Tech campus are slated to open in 2018 and 2019.

"It is with great pleasure that we announce the acquisition of the Sheraton Iowa City,” says Tim Franzen, President of Graduate Hotels. “This acquisition exemplifies our strategy of investing in ideally located assets in multi-dimensional university-anchored markets. Our location on the Ped Mall, the focal point of downtown Iowa City, will offer locals, students and visitors direct access to the hotel. We look forward to expanding our footprint within the Big Ten Conference with Graduate Iowa City’s opening next year.”

The hotel will undergo a renovation, which will touch all guestrooms, restaurant, pool, meeting and event spaces and the hotel lobby. In addition, Graduate Hotels will introduce an innovative, locally-centric food and beverage program designed to foster interaction between hotel guests and locals.

For more information on Graduate Hotels, please visit www.graduatehotels.com.