Virginia hotel developer buys Soleil Center property for $5.35M

A Virginia hotel developer has paid $5.35 million for the Soleil Center property in Raleigh’s Crabtree Valley, according to Wake County property records.

Shamin Hotels acquired the land at auction from Rialto Capital Management, which paid $4.2 million for the 5-acre site in 2011.

Shamin hopes to develop the property itself but has no specific plans for the site at the moment, CEO Neil Amin said. The company owns 37 hotels, including one in Fayetteville and one in Lumberton.

Rialto had acquired the property from the Soleil Group of Cary, which wanted to build a 43-story tower at Glenwood Avenue and Creedmoor Road. The project originally called for 54 luxury condos to be built atop a 290-room Westin Hotel.

The Soleil Group sunk pilings on the site to support a 16-story hotel with the potential to build condos on top of the hotel. The company later lost control of the land after its project stalled, and Rialto was the high bidder at an auction held in 2011.

In March, Rialto resubmitted the original Soleil Center plans to the city. The refiling was necessary if Rialto hoped to have the existing approvals for the site carry over to a new owner.

This story was originally published June 11, 2015 at 12:58 PM with the headline "Virginia hotel developer buys Soleil Center property for $5.35M."