In 1991, at the age of 31, Sternlicht launched the firm to buy
apartment buildings that were being sold by the
Resolution Trust Corporation, created by the federal government to hold and liquidate the real estate assets owned by failed banks after the
savings and loan crisis. In 1993, the company contributed the apartment portfolio to
Sam Zell's
Equity Residential in exchange for a 20% stake in the company. In 1994, in partnership with
Goldman Sachs, the company purchased
Westin Hotels & Resorts in a $561 million transaction. and in 2005, acquired
Groupe du Louvre, which owned crystal maker
Baccarat. In 2009, a consortium led by Starwood Capital bought 40% of the loan portfolio of
Corus Bankshares, which suffered from
bank failure. In 2010, the company lost an auction to buy
Extended Stay Hotels, which was in
bankruptcy. Starwood unsuccessfully filed an objection against the sale to
Centerbridge Partners with the bankruptcy court in Manhattan. In the same year, Starwood received a majority ownership stake in
Riviera Holdings, owners of the
Riviera hotel and casino in
Las Vegas, Nevada and
Riviera Black Hawk in
Black Hawk, Colorado, after a bankruptcy reorganization. In 2012, the company began construction of a chain of hotels under the name of
Baccarat Hotels and Resorts, featuring crystal chandeliers from Baccarat. In 2015, the firm sold its flagship Baccarat hotel in
New York City. In the same year, the group partnered with
Toll Brothers to develop the Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park. In December 2013, Starwood Global Opportunity Fund IX, in partnership with Vencom, bought 7 retail properties from the Swedish retail group
Kooperativa Förbundet for 3.9 billion Swedish kronor ($593.3 million), and sold these in 2016 and 2017. That year, the company acquired seven malls from Westfield Group, including Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted and Franklin Park Mall in Toledo, with properties in Indiana, California and Washington, together dubbed Starwood West.
Four-Pillars Hotels for 90 million, and
Principal Hayley Group for 360 million. In February 2014, Starwood Property Trust spun off Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust, a single-family rental real estate investment trust. In January 2016, Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust merged with Colony American Homes, creating Colony Starwood Homes. In 2017, it was merged into
Invitation Homes. In March 2014, the firm acquired a stake in the
A.S. Roma football club, and in October 2014, Starwood purchased 7 upscale malls in
Virginia,
Florida,
North Carolina,
Texas, and
Michigan from
Taubman Centers in a $1.4 billion transaction. In April 2015, Starwood acquired
The Arboretum of South Barrington, a 480,000-square-foot open-air shopping center in
South Barrington, Illinois, for approximately $100 million. In 2016, the company acquired 23,262 apartments from
Equity Residential for $5.365 billion. In September 2017, Starwood invested $250 million in
YOTEL for a 30% stake. In September 2020, UnionBank filed a $67.2 million foreclosure lawsuit against Starwood property
The Arboretum of South Barrington The foreclosure proceedings concluded in June 2022, when
Hoffman Estates based investor Rick Heidner purchased the defaulted $67 million loan and took control of the asset. In 2021, Starwood's mall holdings had decreased from thirty to eight with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the retail industry, and the company selling some properties at a loss to reduce its $2 billion in CMBS mortgage debt. The firm invested in
Alex Israel's
Metropolis Technologies that year. In 2022, CEO Sternlicht voiced strong criticism of the
Federal Reserve for creating calamitous economic conditions by needlessly raising interest rates. In 2024, the firm limited the amount of money that its investors could withdraw in order to preserve its available supply of cash. This decision was made at a time when the firm was being negatively impacted by rising interest rates and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the real estate industry.
Real estate investments == References ==