A historic SC hotel was just bought by an AL company. Here’s what happens next

A Birmingham, Alabama, real estate investment company is the new owner of the historic Westin Poinsett Hotel in downtown Greenville.

The terms of the sale were not released.

Highline Hospitality Partners owns 19 hotels across the country including two in Charleston — Hyatt Place and the adjacent Hyatt House — with assets totalling more than $1.6 billion.

HEI Hotels & Resorts of Norwalk, Connecticut, will operate the Westin Poinsett.

Highline announced in a press release “targeted renovations across the hotel over the coming years” will be made. A company spokesman could not be reached for comment on what renovations might be made.

The 11-story Poinsett opened in 1925 and through the years hosted a number of dignitaries including Amelia Earhart, Gloria Swanson and Bobby Kennedy.

It is included on the National Register of Historic Places and the Historic Hotels of America registry.

“As one of Greenville’s most iconic properties, the hotel has played a meaningful role in the city’s history for many decades, and we look forward to assuming the stewardship of its legacy to ensure it remains a vital part of the community for years to come,” HHP managing partner Chuck Pomerantz said in the news release.

The Poinsett Hotel was the predominant hotel in Greenville but then was abandoned and almost razed before principal owner P. Steven Dopp Dopp and his business partner, Greg Lenox, bought the hotel in 1997 for $1.5 million and spent $20 million on renovations over three years.

The hotel was named for Joel R. Poinsett, a botanist who served as a U.S. representative, foreign minister, and secretary of war, but is probably better known for bringing the poinsettia to the U.S.

It has 200 guest rooms, 10,000 square feet of meeting space, and a breakfast and lunch restaurant.