"It's one thing to talk about strategy; it's another thing to actually do it," Carlson CEO Hubert Jo

The move is part of parent company Carlson Hotels Worldwide's $1.5 billion strategy to revitalize the chain in America and expand in five years from roughly 1,000 owned and franchised hotels to at least 1,500 across several brands.
The space was originally reserved to expand the adjacent Fairmont Chicago, clarion hotel dublin but Strategic Hotels and Resorts backed out after the meltdown, writing off a $28 million down payment and some $8 million clarion hotel dublin in development costs.
Similar problems and record loan delinquency rates elsewhere in the recession-battered clarion hotel dublin lodging industry have sent investors searching for cheap, distressed assets and set expectations high for a busy shopping season.
About half the $125 million cost will pay to develop and furnish the guest rooms and common areas. clarion hotel dublin The other $62.5 million secures Radisson's joint ownership of the Aqua tower with Magellan Development, which will handle the 63 other floors containing condos and apartments.
That makes the buy one of the year's most expensive, behind only three other single-property deals the $200 million Tropicana Casino and Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.; the $112 million Hyatt Regency clarion hotel dublin Boston and the $95 million Sofitel Washington, D.C., according to CB Richard Ellis data.
"It's one thing to talk about strategy; it's another thing to actually do it," Carlson CEO Hubert Joly told The Associated Press. "This clearly gives us momentum. The phone is now ringing quite significantly, and people see us as a real player."