This story will be updated.
The Black Bear Inn and Conference Center in Orono has been sold to a New Hampshire-based hospitality company.
That sale marks the latest Maine hotel to change hands in the past year, including the University Inn in Orono and The Charles Inn in Bangor.
Tracey Whitten bought the Black Bear Inn and Conference Center near Interstate 95 off Stillwater Avenue for an undisclosed price in October 2014.
Whitten said in her announcement she and her husband, Guy, look forward to enjoying retirement together, and she plans to pursue her passions and travel.
The Black Bear Inn Conference Center and Suites is the product of a 1990 partnership between Danny and Carla Lafayette of Lafayette Hotels and the Sargent construction family, Whitten said in a Friday release announcing the sale.
The new owner will rebrand the property within Choice Hotels, which includes Quality Inn, Comfort Inn and Ascend Hotel Collection. The Black Bear Inn will be rebranded under the latter.
Whitten did not disclose a sale price in her announcement, but it has a valuation of $3,635,200 as of last year, according to the Orono tax assessor’s database.
Whitten also owned the University Inn on Park Street in Orono that she bought in 2001 and rebranded from the University Motor Inn, which opened in 1963. That property was sold in December to Texas-based software company Tyler Technologies, which converted it into office space for up to 75 Maine-based workers, including 36 in Bangor.
Whitten could not be immediately reached for further comment early Friday afternoon.
