ASREF’s $3.4M investment funded the rehabilitation and renovation of this historic hotel in Selma, Alabama.
The St. James Hotel is a historic hotel originally built in 1837 and located in the city of Selma in south-central Alabama. It is a three-story brick masonry building with 42 rooms, a two-story porch that overlooks the Alabama River and ornamental ironwork. The neighborhood is also historic since Selma was the center for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights efforts in the 1960s. The St. James Hotel also has immediate access to US Business Route 80 which connects to the city of Montgomery 50 miles east.
After being closed for over a century, the building underwent a complete renovation from 1994-1997. Modern amenities such as elevators, heating and air-conditioning systems were installed during this renovation. However, since its closure in the summer of 2016 the hotel again fell into disrepair, with leaking roofs, damaged gutters, rotting wooden windows, damaged interiors and compromised mechanical systems.
ASREF’s $3.4M bridge loan allowed Rhaglan Hospitality to acquire the hotel from the Selma Redevelopment Authority. The Mayor and City Council viewed this location as the cornerstone of downtown, and the City Council sold the property at a discount and provided financial incentives to assist in redevelopment. The renovated hotel is a part of Hilton’s Curio Collection, upscale hotels managed by Hilton that maintain their heritage and original branding. This created full time jobs for local LMI individuals while revitalizing the region, increasing tourism and catalyzing local businesses. The renovated hotel reopened its doors to the public on January 26th, 2021. On August 31st, 2021 ASREF exited the project through permanent financing provided by a local Birmingham bank.
| Asset Type | Hotel |
| Development Type | Redevelopmental |
| Previous Use | Hospitality |
| Investment Closing Date | 2/28/2019 |
| Total Development Area | 1.56 Acres (67,954 SF) |
| Construction Timeframe | Start: Jul 2019; Finish: Jan 2021 |
$3.4M
$3.4M
$0.3M
$0.1M
$1.2M
$0.4M
$0.2M
$2.3M
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RHAGLAN HOSPITALITY LLC is based in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded by Jim Lewis and Joe White, the company comprises a team of hotel developers and managers with over $150 million of completed commercial projects. Rhaglan transforms distressed buildings into boutique hotels utilizing tax and St. James Hotel American South Real Estate Fund municipal incentives. For example, its most recent development is The Redmont Hotel Birmingham which reopened in March 2016 after a rehabilitation and repositioning and obtained a twenty-year Franchise Agreement with Hilton as a 4-Diamond Curio Collection Hotel to be managed by Rhaglan.
| Location | 1200 & 1224 Water Ave., Selma, AL 36701 |
| Area | Selma |
| LMI Community Status | Low |
| Unemployment Rate | 32% |
| Poverty Rate | 54% |
| % Minority | 95% (94% African American) |
Selma has been in a steady economic decline since 1960; the population has plummeted more than 37% and over 50% of its shops have been boarded up, are in disrepair or are vacant. The St. James Hotel is in a predominantly minority area (94.8%), with 53.9% poverty, much higher than Alabama’s 17.2% poverty rate6, and 31.7% unemployment, almost ten times the state unemployment rate. The hotel is located within a historic neighborhood.
Many of Dr. King’s efforts to fight for equal voting rights were centered in Selma, including the infamous “Bloody Sunday” march on March 7, 1965 on the Edmund Pettus
Bridge, 0.2 miles from the hotel.
The historical and cultural attractions in Selma include:
• The historic First Baptist Church;
• Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church (Where Dr. King rallied
people to continue fighting for voting rights in a
speech he gave on Jan 2, 1965); and
• The Selma Interpretive Center, which commemorates
the Civil Rights Trail from Selma to Montgomery.
The hotel is walking distance to many of these historic attractions and is the only surviving riverfront antebellum hotel in the Southeast. Moreover, Dallas County remains
a popular tourist destination; more than 80,000 tourists visited Dallas County in 2017 spending over $71 million.
Candace Carlisle describes ASREF's investment in the historic St. James Hotel in Selma, Alabama.
Brad Stanhope profiles ASREF’s investment to redevelop and reopen the historic St. James Hotel in Selma, Alabama.
Adam Powell reports on the new ownership of the St. James Hotel, clearing the way for work to begin on the historic location.
Rhaglan Hospitality announce the opening of The St. James Hotel in historic Selma, Alabama thanks to the contributions of ASREF.
Brannon Cahela reports on the reopening of the St. James Hotel after its $5 million renovation.
ASREF’s $3.4 million bridge loan investment in the St. James Hotel had dual impacts as a high job generator for local LMI in a high unemployment area and as a catalytic anchor project to revitalize and stabilize a depressed targeted area and spur further economic development and commercial redevelopment. The hotel operation promotes economic development with 40 quality jobs for local LMI individuals and further promotes tourism to Selma.
