Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 7-15-16 Online Edition

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Downtown Hilton Sold But Will Retain Name
Called one of Tampa’s largest-ever hotel transac- tions, the Downtown Hilton Hotel has been sold for $101 million.
The deal to purchase the hotel was closed last week by CrossHarbor Capital Part- ners, who said the 520-room, full-service hotel would retain its name as a Hilton.
The hotel, located at 211 North Tampa Street, sold for $63 million in 2012. The group that purchased it changed it from a Hyatt to a Hilton. They also spent mil- lions of dollars on renova- tions.
DOWNTOWN TAMPA HILTON HOTEL
Built in 1982 the 18-story Hilton has a rooftop sun deck, fitness center, heated outdoor pool, a Starbucks, and two restaurants.
The largest hotel transaction in Tampa Bay history was the $199 million sale of the Marriott Waterside Resort and Marina two years ago to Strategic Property Partners, a joint venture be- tween Tampa Bay Lightning owner, Jeff Vinik, and Cascade In- vestment LLC.
The Hilton deal is the second bay area property sale topping $100 million announced in the past two weeks. A Phoenix-based real estate investment trust bought the huge Amazon Distribution Center in Ruskin for $103.6 million in the largest industrial sale in bay area history.
Attorney Dawson Elected To Church Judicial Council
Philadelphia, PA – On this past Monday, thousands of Delegates to the 50th Quadren- nial Session of the General Conference for the African Methodist Episcopal Church (“AME Church”), during their meeting in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, voted to elect Warren Hope Dawson, a veteran Tampa lawyer, to serve as a member of its Judicial Council.
The AME Church Judicial Council has 9 members and functions as its highest judica- tory body. The Council sits as an Appellate Court that finally resolves all internal disputes and controversies that arise within the Church. Its decisions are subject only to the will of the General Conference that meets every 4 years.
The very large gathering in Philadelphia was to celebrate 200 years of the Church’s ex- istence, and to do so in the very city where it was founded in 1816 by Richard Allen, a for- mer African slave in Delaware. The AME Church was the first church created in Amer- ica by former slaves for former slaves.
Today, the membership of the AME Church is estimated at 7.5 million members. Its members are served by 81,317 Pastors and 21 Bishops in more than 12,000 churches. The Church has a presence across the United States, and also in 40 countries on 5 conti- nents.
Attorney Dawson, a fourth generation member of the AME Church, credits the Church for his early life discipline. In like manner, Atty. Dawson also says that the life-
ATTY. WARREN HOPE DAWSON
skills learned and cultivated in church have served him well in later life as a military offi- cer, a nationally recognized lawyer, and a com- munity leader.
Atty. Dawson was elected to an 8-year term on the Judicial Council, where he will serve without compensation.
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