IVY Joins Starwood Luxury Collection

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. October 14, 2008

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota, September 1, 2005. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announces a long-term agreement with The IVY Hotel + Residences, a luxury mixed-use development with historic origin, to join Starwood's prestigious Luxury Collection portfolio of hotels and resorts. The IVY Hotel + Residences, a Luxury Collection Hotel, will be built to include three distinct structures - a high-rise residential tower and a mid-rise hotel tower - surrounding the ten-story historic IVY Tower landmark as the centerpiece of the project. Featuring 136 guest rooms and suites and 88 luxury residences, the development will also include a destination restaurant, 4,000 square feet of meeting space, a 17,000-square-foot resort-quality spa and wellness center, and upscale retail space. The development is scheduled for completion in spring 2007.

"The IVY Hotel + Residences marks The Luxury Collection's entry into the Midwestern United States and will be a perfect compliment to our existing Luxury Collection hotels, which are renowned for their distinctive landmark hotels, considered some of the finest in the world," stated Stephen Alden, senior vice president of The Luxury Collection. "This hotel will offer outstanding accommodations, spa services and is located in one of the most dynamic growth markets in the United States."

"Redefining luxury, The IVY Hotel + Residences will offer a new level of hospitality experience to the many executives and visitors to the elite Minneapolis corporate headquarters such as American Express and Target, as well as the Minneapolis Convention Center," according to Paul Wischermann, president of Wischermann Partners, a Minneapolis-based hospitality consulting and hotel management firm involved in several Twin Cities hotel development projects. "The historic significance of the IVY Tower + Residences will lend character, distinction and a timeless quality to the project's positioning and design while marking the rebirth of one of Minneapolis' most important and treasured historic landmarks."

The IVY Hotel + Residences will be situated in the heart of the city's vibrant downtown section, steps away from Orchestra Hall, Nicollet Mall, and will integrate Minneapolis' skyway system and provide convenient climate-controlled access to the Minneapolis Convention Center and all of the city's downtown connected buildings. The historic IVY Tower will provide the signature experience for Minneapolis hotel guests, where the majority of the luxury guest suites will be located. The solid, masculine character of the "little tower" will be balanced with plush furnishings, elegant fabrics and classic art pieces to create a true luxury experience for guests. All guest rooms will feature distinctive bathrooms with separate rain forest showers and oversized soaking bathtubs and 42-inch flat-screen panel televisions.

The IVY Tower will host a first floor restaurant, which expands into the garden level, the hotel lobby and lounge, and a three-story atrium. The second level introduces the spa and wellness facility spanning an entire floor throughout all three towers. The third level features state-of-the-art meeting space, business center and access to the convention center. The residential and hotel components will occupy the fourth level and up.