Sixth Street has acquired the Pier House Resort & Spa in Key West, Fla., for $190 million, according to a press release from the alternative asset manager, closing out a more than decade-long hold on one of the city’s signature waterfront properties by seller Braemar Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BHR).
The deal, done in partnership with Riller Capital, works out to roughly $1.34 million per key for the 142-room oceanfront resort β more than double the $93 million, or about $653,000 per key, that a Braemar predecessor entity paid for the property in 2014 following a $12 million renovation. It is the latest sign that trophy leisure hotels in supply-constrained coastal markets are still commanding premium pricing even as broader hotel transaction volume remains choppy.
Braemar disclosed the underlying purchase and sale agreement in a Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, reporting that its indirect subsidiaries, Ashford Pier House LP and Ashford TRS Pier House LLC, signed the agreement on July 13, 2026, for $190.0 million in cash, subject to customary prorations and adjustments. The buying entity named in the SEC filing, Last Mango Owner LLC, is affiliated with Sixth Street’s real estate platform, according to the firm’s own announcement of the closing.
In its second-quarter earnings release, also filed with the SEC, Braemar said it had received a $6.0 million non-refundable earnest money deposit and expected the sale to close in mid-August 2026 β a timeline that lines up with Sixth Street’s Aug. 13 announcement confirming the deal had closed.
Pier House sits on five acres at 1 Duval Street, at the gateway to Key West’s main entertainment corridor. The resort, which first opened in 1967, includes two oceanfront restaurants, a full-service spa, a fitness center, an oceanfront pool, 75 linear feet of private beach frontage and about 3,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
Sixth Street financed the acquisition with debt from Starwood Property Trust, though the loan amount was not disclosed. Latham & Watkins, Smith, Hawks, P.L. and CBRE advised Sixth Street on the transaction; the Plasencia Group advised Braemar.
“We believe Pier House represents an opportunity to acquire a historic luxury resort in one of the country’s most supply-constrained and sought-after tropical leisure markets,” Aman Gupta, a principal at Sixth Street, said in the announcement. Gupta added that the investment “reflects Sixth Street’s commitment to identifying high-quality hospitality assets where we can drive long-term value.”
The sale is part of a broader disposition push at Braemar. The REIT’s second-quarter earnings release referenced multiple property sales completed or agreed during the quarter, as the company works through a series of hotel divestitures. Braemar did not attribute a specific use of proceeds to the Pier House sale in its SEC filings.
The transaction also lands amid a wave of large hospitality trades this month. Earlier in August, Ryman Hospitality Properties announced a $1.38 billion deal for Orlando’s Grande Lakes Resort, a sign that well-capitalized buyers continue to see value in large-format resort assets even as overall hotel development activity climbs β the U.S. hotel construction pipeline reached 5,975 projects in the second quarter, according to Lodging Econometrics.
What it means
The per-key price for Pier House underscores how little new supply can reach markets like Key West, where zoning, land scarcity and hurricane-related building constraints limit competition for existing resorts. For Braemar, the sale generates liquidity and sheds a smaller asset as the REIT continues repositioning its portfolio toward its larger luxury holdings. For Sixth Street, the deal adds a branded, high-barrier-to-entry leisure asset to a real estate platform that has been active in resort hospitality.
What to watch
Investors will be watching whether Braemar discloses additional dispositions in coming SEC filings, and how it deploys proceeds from the Pier House sale and other recent hotel sales. It’s also worth watching whether Sixth Street pursues further leisure-hotel acquisitions in supply-constrained Florida and Gulf Coast markets, where trophy resort pricing has held up better than broader hotel fundamentals this year.
