By Stephanie Guzman / Albuquerque Business First Reporter, Monday, April 19, 2016 at 1:16pm
LAS CRUCES – After shedding more than two-thirds of its assets during the recession, the Albuquerque-based hotel company Total Management Systems is in growth mode again.
The company spent $14.2 million last year to acquire two hotels near Gibson Boulevard. And along with the principals of Allen Sigmon Real Estate Group, the company finally completed the 123-room Home2 Suites by Hilton last year, located near the Big I.
Now, TMS is set to add two more hotels to its portfolio.
One hotel is in Albuquerque, located on a vacant site on the northeast corner of Paseo Del Norte and I-25 that’s next door to the recently opened Car Crafters.
Malini Perumal, senior vice president of sales and marketing with TMS, said the company bought the 1.8-acre property 10 years ago — recognizing that the Paseo corridor was a growing area. But when the recession hit and construction started on the Paseo and I-25 interchange, the development was put on hold.
Perumal said now that the interchange is complete, work on the site is moving forward. The plan is for a 92-room hotel, to be branded SpringHill Suites by Marriott. The project cost is $12 million.
“We like the site because it’s in a great location, has great visibility and is in a growing area that has a lot of businesses, but not a lot of hotels that cater to corporate clients,” Perumal said.
The company will break ground on the hotel in the fall, and is expected to open in 2017.
TMS is also developing a 120-unit hotel in Las Cruces, on the campus of New Mexico State University just west of the Convention Center. The company was awarded the project through a request for proposals (RFP) about two years ago, which will cost between $16 million and $18 million.
Perumal said it’s the company’s first public-private partnership, and its first project in Las Cruces. The development is a partnership between TMS, NMSU’s Aggie Development and Allen Sigmon. Perumal said the company partnered with Allen Sigmon again because of their experience in development, and ability to attract investors.
“[Allen Sigmon] brings good ideas to the table. With their work in the community and in the real estate sector, they’re able to bring a good relationship with investors to the table,” Perumal said. “[The investors] are mostly local individuals that want to invest into hotels because they see it as a growing sector.”
The firm plans to break ground on the 2.7-acre site early next year.
Once the two hotels are completed, the TMS portfolio will total 10 hotels in the state. And they plan to invest even more into hotel development.
“The New Mexico tourism market here has always been good to us. And we’re from here and we want to invest in our state, to create more jobs and better the workforce,” Perumal said.
