NEW: Biltmore Hotel Name Changed to Graduate Providence

The historic Biltmore Hotel name is being changed by the Chicago-based hotel group that owns the property to the Graduate Providence.

While new Graduate Hotel signage went up Tuesday, the landmark red light "Biltmore" on the roof will remain for the foreseeable future.

The Biltmore is owned by AJ Capital Partners, which asserts they have "over $2.3 billion gross acquisition value of real estate purchased since inception and more than $1.7 billion gross fair market value currently under asset management.”

About Graduate Providence

"What Graduate is doing here is enhancing the spirit of the Biltmore -- to enhance the historical elements, everything that makes the Biltmore what it is," Scott Williams, General Manager of the property, told GoLocal.

"The Biltmore sign on top of the hotel stays up," says Williams. "The building is registered as a historic landmark. Our owner, even if he could take it down, I don't think he would. He loves neon and taking old things and bringing them back to life. The Graduate sign out front is real neon -- it's not LED," said Williams.

"We're hoping to have by the end of this week our soft opening -- by that point all of our old rooms are out of inventory and we're only renting new Graduate rooms and the lobby we're hoping for the end of completion by the end of this week as well," said Williams.

"Right now we still have two floors of the Biltmore rooms that are in inventory that will drop out at the end of this week -- from that point forward only the newly renovated rooms will be occupied," he added.

"Elevator could be a maybe," said Williams of the new ownership's plans moving forward -- and potential to fix the iconic glass elevator which has been out of commission now for years.

The magazine Fast Company dubs the parent company one of the 50 most innovative companies in America, “Launched in 2014, Graduate Hotels spent the past year spreading its kitschy-cool brand of hospitality to college towns across the country: It now has 10 properties, from Oxford, Mississippi, to Berkeley, California, with eight more in development. “There’s generally a lack of interesting hotel product in our markets, yet [university] communities are incubators for innovation, job growth, and culture,” says AJ Capital Partners founder and CEO Ben Weprin, who developed the Graduate brand through his real estate investment group.

AJ Partner’s tagline is, “New life for old gems.”

Presently, the hotel describes itself as “The Providence Biltmore, located in the heart of downtown Providence, Rhode Island, is a landmark hotel with an illustrious past. Designed by the celebrated firm Warren and Wetmore, the architects behind New York City’s Grand Central Station, the hotel debuted to widespread acclaim in 1922 and quickly became the tourist and social center of Providence. Today, deeply woven within the city’s fabric and culture and beloved by generations of guests, the Providence Biltmore is an authentic Providence tradition.”

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