Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Hersha sells 16 hotels for $217M

Hersha Hospitality Trust, which owns 64 hotels primarily in the Northeast, has an agreement to sell 16 of them, including seven in suburban Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware, to an affiliate of Blackstone Real Estate Advisors for $217 million.
The hotels, which include the Marriott and Holiday Inn brands, will remain hotels under the new owners, said Pete Majeski, Hersha's manager of investor relations and finance.
Hersha Hospitality, a real estate investment trust in the hospitality industry, is based in Harrisburg with corporate offices in Philadelphia. It owns the upscale Rittenhouse Hotel on Rittenhouse Square and the Hampton Inn in Center City across from the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Since 2008, the company has sold 46 "non-strategic" hotels for about $460 million.
"This flexibility has been an advantage for the company's ongoing portfolio recycling strategy," Hersha said Tuesday on its website.
Jay H. Shah, Hersha chief executive officer, said the sale, which is anticipated to close by March 31, "completes our transformation into a pure play, urban transient portfolio" in "some of the highest demand gateway markets in the United States."
The company said it plans to use proceeds from the sale for "higher growth opportunities in Miami and the West Coast."
The hotels that are being sold include a Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn in Langhorne; Holiday Inn Express in Oxford Valley; Courtyard by Marriott in Princeton; Holiday Inn Express & Suites in King of Prussia, and Courtyard by Marriott and Inn at Wilmington, both in Wilmington.
The company also is selling TownePlace Suites in Harrisburg; Holiday Inn Express and Hampton Inn in Hershey and Residence Inn in Carlisle.
Blackstone Real Estate Advisors in New York is the investment arm of the Blackstone Group specializing in real estate investing.
Source: Philly.com

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