Platinum Equity has snagged another Twin Cities business, buying the Radisson hotel on the University of Minnesota campus and planning a $6 million face-lift.

Terms of the sale, expected to close in April, aren't being released.

An affiliate of Platinum Equity, a private equity group based in Beverly Hills, Calif., is buying the hotel from Minneapolis-based Maddux Hotel Corp., run by Bill Maddux, the hotel's original developer. Platinum Equity is just buying the structure; the University of Minnesota owns the land and leases it. Maddux couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Michael Sullivan, director of Denver-based HVS Capital Corp., which advised Maddux on the sale, wouldn't specify the reasons for selling, saying "it's just time."

"The loan's coming due," Sullivan said. "The hotel's doing fine. It's making a lot of money."

According to Hennepin County property records, the 304-room Radisson University Hotel-Minneapolis has an assessed market value of $10.6 million, excluding the land.

Sue Weinberg, director of real estate for the University of Minnesota, said the school applauds the makeover.

"We don't think it's fully serving the needs of the university in terms of its guest rooms, public spaces and/or amenities," Weinberg said.

The hotel opened in the mid-1980s and caters to school visitors, athletic teams and people attending university conferences, she said. The hotel will become independent, she said, adding she doesn't know when the Radisson brand will go away.

"It's going to be an independent, upscale lifestyle hotel integral to the university setting," Weinberg said.

The new light rail connecting downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul will run right in front of the hotel, which is on Washington Avenue SE.

It's the latest Twin Cities deal for Platinum. The group recently bought the Sheraton Bloomington Hotel for $20 million and is giving it a $12.5 million renovation and rebranding it a DoubleTree hotel. Richfield Hospitality Inc., a major hotel management company based in Greenwood Village, a Denver suburb, is now managing the Sheraton, and will also manage the Radisson University Hotel after the sale, Weinberg said.

Early last year, Platinum bought the bulk of boatmaker Genmar Holdings for $70 million in a bankruptcy auction.

Jennifer Bjorhus • 612-673-4683