Atrium Hospitality takes over management of University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, above, and other former JQH properties.
John Q. Hammons' hotels and resorts are under new management.
As bankruptcy court proceedings continue for the estate of the late Springfield hotelier, Atrium Hospitality LP has assumed command of his remaining 35 hotels, though actual property ownership and when the transition occurred remains unclear.
Alpharetta, Georgia-based Atrium Hospitality – held by JD Holdings LLC and owner-investor Jonathan Eilian, the largest creditor in the settlement – penned a deal earlier this year with Hammons estate co-trustees Jacqueline Dowdy and Greggory Groves to liquidate Hammons' hotels and myriad other assets.
The settlement established, among other details, that Atrium Hospitality would manage John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts' 35 remaining hotels. JD Holdings and Eilian are lining up a roughly $1 billion buyout of most, if not all, of some 150 assets of the bankrupted Hammons estate.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas confirmed the settlement May 11, though a group of secured lenders – representing at least $763 million in defaulted debt – quickly appealed the decision. A court order on the appeal has not yet been delivered.
Springfield-area properties now under Atrium Hospitality management, meanwhile, include Chateau on the Lake in Branson and Springfield's University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Residence Inn and the Courtyard hotel east of the Springfield-Branson National Airport.
The JQH Hotels & Resorts website now links directly to that of Atrium Hospitality, while the Chateau on the Lake and University Plaza websites don the latter logo.
Calls to JQH Hotels & Resorts headquarters in downtown Springfield also are now greeted with the Atrium Hospitality name.
Linked as part of corporate Holiday Inn and Marriott International webpages, the remaining Springfield hotels lack individual websites.
Also confirming the transition, local hotel management declined to comment on the change, directing inquiries to Texas-based WiseHive Public Relations.
WiseHive President Sheri Davidson Smith declined to comment on the transition.