Pearl Properties buys Embassy Suites hotel on Parkway for $67M

Pearl Properties LLC of Philadelphia has paid $67 million for the 288-suite Embassy Suites Philadelphia hotel on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Pearl plans upgrades including new restaurant spaces at the hotel, which had been renovated before the sale, the developer said in a release Monday. Space on the hotel’s ground floor is currently occupied by a branch of the TGI Fridays restaurant chain.

The Embassy Suites, at 1776 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, had been owned by LaSalle Hotel Properties. It was sold in connection with LaSalle’s acquisition by Bethesda, Md.-based Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, Pebblebrook said in a release.

The hotel is Pearl’s second, after its Cambria property on South Broad Street.

Short term stays are slated to also be available at Pearl’s 24-story apartment building under construction where part of the Boyd Theatre once stood at 1910 Chestnut St. The developer received a permit last week to convert 45 units at the tower, dubbed the Harper, for use as visitor accommodations, according to the Philadelphia Department of Licenses and Inspections.