Highline Hospitality Partners has expanded its hotel portfolio with the acquisition of the dual-branded AC Hotel San Antonio Riverwalk and Element San Antonio Riverwalk. The transaction brings two complementary Marriott-branded lodging concepts into the firm’s growing collection and establishes a new foothold in San Antonio’s active Riverwalk West district.
Key takeaways
- The acquisition marks Highline Hospitality Partners’ 20th and 21st hotel investments.
- The property combines 181 AC Hotel guestrooms with 162 extended-stay Element units.
- Avion Hospitality will manage the hotels.
- The acquisition lifts Highline’s portfolio to 21 hotels and more than 5,500 guestrooms.
A strategic entry into San Antonio
The acquisition gives Highline Hospitality Partners an opportunity to participate in one of San Antonio’s most recognizable visitor destinations. The hotels sit steps from the Riverwalk in the Riverwalk West submarket, an area positioned for continued investment and development.
For travelers, the location offers easy access to downtown attractions, dining and entertainment. For the owner, the pairing creates a well-positioned asset in a market that serves leisure guests, business travelers and extended-stay visitors throughout the year.
Two hotel concepts in one property
The property was originally built as an office building in 1983 before undergoing an adaptive-reuse redevelopment from 2019 through 2022. Its current design places the AC Hotel across floors 13 through 20, with 181 guestrooms, while Element occupies floors 7 through 12 with 162 suites designed for longer stays.
Element’s accommodations include full-service kitchenettes and sleeper sofas, giving guests more flexibility for extended visits. The AC Hotel, meanwhile, brings a contemporary lifestyle offering that complements the city’s energetic downtown setting.
Amenities support a broader guest experience
The dual-branded property includes two full-service food and beverage outlets, including 1Watson, a rooftop restaurant and bar on the 15th floor. Its elevated setting adds a distinctive gathering place for hotel guests and local diners alike.
Additional amenities include 4,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, a fitness center and a business center. The building also retains 60,000 square feet of office space on floors 3 through 6 and 3,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, reinforcing its mixed-use character.
Highline continues an active growth strategy
This is Highline’s fourth and fifth hotel acquisition of the year, following purchases in Pittsburgh, the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Greenville. With the San Antonio transaction, the platform now owns 21 hotels representing approximately $1.7 billion in hospitality assets under management.
Highline also provides third-party asset management for four additional hotels, bringing its total oversight to 25 properties. Avion Hospitality will manage the San Antonio hotels, extending an existing relationship between the two companies and supporting the property’s next phase of operations.
The acquisition arrives as the recently renovated hotels offer a fresh foundation for growth. Their combination of new-condition accommodations, flexible meeting space, rooftop dining and extended-stay functionality gives Highline a promising platform in a city where hospitality continues to benefit from strong visitor appeal.
