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ENCORE IS BUILDING A HOTEL EMPIRE - BUT DOCTOR - Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS) - February 23, 2002 - page C7
February 23, 2002 | Sun Herald (Biloxi, MS) | TIMOTHY BOONE, THE SUN HERALD | Pag e C7
OCEAN SPRINGS --- Dr. Bharat Sangani, a Gulfport cardiologist and founder of Encore Enterprises, is working on commercial real estate projects from Marriott hotel rooms to a Coast cardiac care hospital.
Encore recently purchased Pineapple Management Services Inc., one of Marriott's 25 largest domestic franchisees, for more than $50 million. Encore now owns 11 Marriott hotels in six Southern states, including a Fairfield Inn near Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, and three hotel sites in metro Atlanta.
Sangani said the price and timing of the Pineapple acquisition was right. He had recently sold eight hotels, keeping only a Wingate Inn in D'Iberville and hotel in Fort Myers, Fla. T his spring, Encore will break ground on a $20 million Staybridge Suite Hotel in New Orleans, across the street from Harrah's.
"It's like you tell children, you have to crawl before you walk and walk before you run," Sangani said. "T his move puts us on an international level. Marriott is a closely guarded family and there are a lot of requirements to get a franchise."
Sangani said he will keep the staff and management at Pineapple in place. Glenn Pedersen, president of Pineapple, said Encore will make the franchise stronger financially and could acquire more hotels and management contracts.
Sangani said Marriott's reservation system accounts for about half of a hotel's business, and Encore will hire regional sales directors to aggressively market its hotels to businesses, tourist groups and other organizations.
Encore is still developing Lakeview Village shopping center in D'Iberville. Patrick Barber, Encore's president and chief executive officer, said a New Orleans company should soon announce plans for a 12-screen movie theater with stadium-style seating. Local and national restaurants and retailers are looking at locations in the shopping center at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 110.
"A movie theater has huge implications for all the restaurants," Barber said. "T hat's going to bring nighttime business to the shopping center and that's the key for restaurants."
Despite the new projects, Sangani said he's still committed to his cardiology practice, seeing up to 50 patients a day. His practice has four doctors and he is negotiating to add a fifth.
One of the dream projects he plans to focus on in the next two or three years is building a hospital on the Coast dedicated to heart care. A location has been picked out, and Sangani said he's working on putting all the players together to get it built.