DeBartolo Development has struck a partnership with Clearwater hotel investor/operator the Liberty Group, buying distressed hospitality properties.
Punit Shah, president and chief operating officer of Liberty Group, traces the two companies' relationship back to a chance meeting he had with Kobel over a replacement hotel development on the site.
“We had wanted to talk to them about doing the retail for the deal there that didn't come together,” Shah says. “It turned out that both of our families have roots that go back to Youngstown, Ohio. Eddie DeBartolo Sr. and my father used to own hotels there. Eventually it came up, why don't we get back into business again?”
