The Hotel Hot Springs, 305 Malvern Ave., is now under new ownership.
The 14-story hotel was sold for an undisclosed amount, a news release from Kelley Commercial Partners in Little Rock announced Friday. It was co-listed by Gary Smith and Hank Kelley of Kelley Commercial Partners and Chris Mahoney of Keen-Summit Capital Partners LLC of New York, who also handled the transaction.
"We are thrilled to announce the sale of The Hotel Hot Springs," Smith said in the release. "This property has a long-standing reputation as one of the premier hotels in the region, and we are confident that the new owners will continue to build upon its success."
The hotel was purchased in 2019 for $16 million by SBN V FNBC in a foreclosure auction after Gary R. Gibbs, who owned a stake in the 7,000-square-foot facility, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Gibbs pleaded guilty to a federal count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in August of 2020, and he is set to be sentenced on Sept. 20 after the hearing was rescheduled five times since the initial sentencing date of Dec. 2, 2020.
A $128.9 million foreclosure judgment was handed down in June 2019 to GRGCBHS, a company he once owned. Gibbs left the company in the wake of the 2017 failure of First NBC Bank in Louisiana.
Built in 1986 as a Hilton property and later renamed the Austin Hotel after another change in ownership, the 200-room facility sits on 1.44 acres and underwent an $8 million renovation in 2016. Amenities at the hotel include Inside Track Grill and Sports Lounge, a business center, fitness center, pool and two-story parking garage and it is connected to Hot Springs Convention Center.
As of Monday, the sale had not been registered with the Garland County assessor's office.