Marriott buys Gaylord hotel brand for $210M

Gaylord Entertainment Co. (NYSE: GET) is selling its hotel brand and management rights to its four resorts to Marriott International (NYSE: MAR) for $210 million in cash. Gaylord is slated to develop a 1,200-room resort hotel in Mesa at DMB Associates' Eastmark community. That project at the former GM Proving Grounds in the East Valley has been delayed by the recession, despite tax breaks and other help from Mesa. Under the deal, Gaylord will keep ownership of its four hotels in Nashville, Dallas, Orlando and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. Bethesda, Md.-based Marriott will manage the hotels, which also will fly under a Marriott banner. Gaylord owns the Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville. Nashville-based Gaylord then will become a real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in hotel investments. DMB spokeswoman Cassidy Campana said it is too early to tell what impact the Marriott-Gaylord deal will have on the Mesa hotel plans. Gaylord Vice President Brian Abrahamson said the status of the Mesa resort did not come up during today's deal announcement.

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