The five hotels of Spokane’s Davenport chain are being sold to a private equity firm, marking a major change for the hotels strongly connected to the city’s downtown.The Historic Davenport, the Tower, the Lusso, the Grand and the Centennial are being sold to Denver-based KSL Capital Partners in a transaction announced Tuesday. The sale is expected to close in 30 days. No price was disclosed.
Walt and Karen Worthy purchased the mothballed Historic Davenport in 2000 and re-opened it two years later. That property became the flagship for what came to be nearly half a dozen hotels under the Worthys’ ownership. In a statement, Walt Worthy said it was time to hand the reins over to someone else.
“KSL has the depth of expertise and capabilities to provide exceptional service as they have owned and operated some of the most prestigious hotels in the world, and we couldn’t be happier that they will continue to preserve the history and heritage of Davenport Hotels here in Spokane,” Worthy said.
KSL has experience in managing luxury and historic hotels. It specializes in travel and leisure services and properties. It has offices in Colorado, Connecticut, England and Singapore. Its other Northwest properties include Hayden Lake Marina in Idaho, a resort in the Cascades and a marina on Puget Sound.
The Davenport’s current managing director, Lynnelle Caudill, will stay on. Davison Hospitality Group will manage the hotels along with Caudill and her staff. DHG helps manage a variety of national chain hotels, including Marriott, Sheraton, Aloft, and Hilton.
“The Worthys have built Davenport Hotels from a single hotel with the restoration of The Historic Davenport to a portfolio of Spokane’s highest quality hotels, and we are privileged to be part of the next chapter of these properties to ensure they continue to flourish,” said KSL’s Michael Mohapp.
Construction on the Historic Davenport began in 1912, and the hotel opened in September 1914. It was named for local restaurateur Louis Davenport, its first manager. A variety of shops, bars and restaurants occupied its ground floor for decades.
“Described as Florentine and modeled on palaces in fifteenth-century Florence, the building’s style was intended to embody Spokane’s flourishing growth as the center of the Inland Empire,” a 2003 historic survey noted.
After being sold in 1945, the hotel’s life was characterized by “a series of management changes, proposed and partial renovations, bankruptcy and consequent maintenance neglect,” according to the historical survey.
The hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places in September 1975. By 1980, the roof, windows, pool and many architectural and structural elements had deteriorated. The Davenport closed in 1985. It was almost demolished before the Worthys purchased it, becoming the property’s tenth owners.
The Worthys added the Davenport Tower to their portfolio in 2007. Two years later, they acquired the Lusso. The Grand was the couple’s first Davenport project that was not a pre-existing building. It was built near Spokane’s convention center in 2013 and opened two years later. The Centennial, on the north bank of the Spokane River, was purchased in 2018.
