A Spartanburg Operator Adds a Buckhead Hotel
OTO Development added the AC Hotel Atlanta Buckhead at Phipps Plaza to its management portfolio on 13 October 2026. The hotel holds 166 rooms. Simon owns the building. Trade coverage carried the assignment on 13 October 2026.
The Company Behind the Contract
OTO Development works under The Johnson Group and keeps its offices at 100 Dunbar Street, Suite 200, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The company calls the addition its 57th hotel and its 11th AC Hotel by Marriott. It groups its portfolio as upscale select-service, lifestyle and extended-stay properties running to more than 8,700 rooms.
Founded on 11 May 2004
OTO Development was founded on 11 May 2004. Its heritage page records the name as the initials of Corry Oakes, Todd Turner and Jim Ovenden. The three launched the company with George Dean Johnson Jr. and H. Wayne Huizenga. The founders left Extended Stay America on the day Blackstone closed its purchase of that company. The heritage page counts more than 2,500 team members and describes a management platform used for the company’s own hotels and for outside lodging investors.
Ten AC Hotels on the Operator’s Own Pages
The operator’s portfolio pages list 56 hotels across five pages, ten of them AC Hotels by Marriott. The Buckhead hotel is not yet among them. The pages publish no as-at date.
The Leadership Record
The leadership page names Rob Rain as chief executive officer, Matt McClelland as chief operating officer and Charlie King as chief financial officer. Corry Oakes appears as founder and former chief executive.
The Brand Set Behind the Portfolio
The managed hotels carry Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and IHG flags. The portfolio page groups the addresses under those four brands. The named brands include Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, DoubleTree, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Home2 Suites, Hyatt House, Hyatt Place, Hyatt Centric and Tempo by Hilton.
A Hometown Curio Collection Hotel Under Construction
OTO Development is building The Morgan Hotel in downtown Spartanburg as the hospitality component of The Johnson Group’s mixed-use development there. The company’s own announcement gives 152 guest rooms and suites, about 6,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space with a ballroom, dining venues, a rooftop pool and a fitness center. The project will be the company’s first property in the Curio Collection by Hilton, and the company targets a late-2027 opening.
Marriott Recognition the Operator Carries
Marriott gave OTO Development its 2026 CONNECT Award for Best Collaborator and inducted the company into its Partnership Circle Hall of Fame. The accolades page ties the 2026 collaborator award to the AC Hotel Naples 5th Avenue and the AC Hotel Jacksonville St. Johns Town Center.
Buckhead’s Summer and the Handoff
The change lands after a mixed summer for the submarket. Team stays at nearby luxury hotels during the FIFA World Cup matches hosted in Atlanta did not produce a broad occupancy gain across Buckhead, per the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s reporting.
Where the Record Ends
The announcement states no management fee, no contract term, no transition date and no staffing terms. It names no prior operator. OTO Development’s newsroom had published no item on the addition at the time of writing.