One of the world's top hospitality investors has made its first foray into Texas with the acquisition of the Four Seasons Resort Dallas at Las Colinas. Now the company plans to replicate the strategy in major U.S. markets such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C., and overseas in Europe and Japan.

Trinity Real Estate Investments, based in Honolulu, and global private investor Partners Group bought the 431-room luxury hotel and championship-level golf course resort in North Texas for an undisclosed sum at the end of May from Extell Development Co.

The hotel's new owners could spend more than $20 million on upgrades to the luxury hotel but the exact budget has yet to be determined, Sean Hehir, Trinity's managing partner, president and CEO, told CoStar News. He said the Four Seasons Resort Dallas at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, fits Trinity's strategy of investing in areas with surging population growth — and that are a hotbed for corporate activity, which is expected to pick up from increased meeting-space demand that was stymied in the pandemic.

It's also got another advantage: Irving is home to more headquarters of Fortune 500 companies per capita, including McKesson Corp., Kimberly-Clark and Fluor, than any other place in the country.

The deal marks Trinity's first acquisition in Texas and its fifth property acquired through the firm's $520 million fund focused on buying upscale and luxury hotels in the 25 largest U.S. markets. The fund closed a year ago, exceeding its initial target of $315 million and attracting investors including sovereign wealth funds, institutions, family offices and wealthy individuals.

"When we raised our fund, we told our investors the first few acquisitions of the fund would be in Florida and in California, but Texas fit really well into the fund, and we've known this asset for a long time," Hehir said.

Trinity plans to buy another 10 to 12 luxury hotels with the fund and has a "very active pipeline" of potential acquisitions, Hehir said. The firm is on track to deploy all the capital within the fund's remaining two-year deployment window and is looking at Texas along with markets where the company has done deals such as in California, Hawaii and Florida.

Other attractive areas for hotel acquisitions include the Rocky Mountain states, the Pacific Northwest and major U.S. markets such as Atlanta and Washington, D.C., Hehir said.

"We are absolutely in acquisition mode and we are adding to our team in Honolulu and doubling the size" of Trinity's office space in Beverly Hills, California, in anticipation of the company's increased deal activity, Hehir said.

Beyond the United States, Trinity is also looking at potential hotel acquisitions in Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, Portugal, Spain, Greece and Italy, as well as reentering Japan after the 24-year-old firm left the country by selling a commercial real estate asset in 2014.

"We are not only in acquisition mode, but growth mode as a company with us branching into Europe and looking to get back into the Japanese hospitality market," Hehir said. "We've more than tripled the head count at Trinity in the last five years or so and we feel ready to expand."

The deal for the Four Seasons Resort Dallas came together with the help of an existing relationship between Hehir and well-known developer Gary Barnett, who is the founder and chairman of Extell Development Co., the prior owner of the hotel.

Barnett is known for helping redefine parts of the New York City skyline with a variety of properties, including what is known as the world's tallest residential tower. Recently, Barnett’s firm landed a $900 million acquisition financing loan for a former Walt Disney Co.-owned campus on the Upper West Side of New York.

Extell and Barnett, were among those they "worked directly with on this deal," Hehir told CoStar News, adding he had begun working months ago on the acquisition of the Four Seasons Resort Dallas.

Even as competition has ratcheted up this year, Hehir said the firm is seeing a lot of "value-add opportunities" to allow them to increase rates by renovating and improving the running of upscale hospitality properties, with would-be deals centered on Trinity's business plan to reposition an asset.

"There's a lot of capital chasing deals, but we are still seeing opportunities," he said.

In the past year, the debt markets have been challenging, Hehir said. For the Four Seasons Resort Dallas deal, Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies provided the buyer with an $189.9 million loan toward the purchase, according to Dallas County records.

The Four Seasons Resort Dallas features 90,000 square feet of meeting and event space expected to be part of the new owner's upgrades, in addition to renovations for guest rooms and public areas, while rethinking the food and beverage services at the property.

Hehir said he "loves the opportunities" to "reinvigorate the asset" in a market such as Dallas-Fort Worth "that is growing tremendously."