Top 10 Hotel Transactions of Q1

Here are the Top 10 U.S. Hotel Transactions for the 1st quarter of 2012:

(Est. cost and buyer in parentheses)

10. Avalon Hotel, NYC ($48,300,00)

9. Hampton Inn Empire State Building, NYC ($69,500,000; Rockbridge Capital)

8. Novotel Times Square, NYC ($93,000,000; joint venture)

7. San Francisco Airport Marriott ($108,000,000; Inland American Lodging Group)

6. Knickerbocker Hotel ($115,000,000, portion to be redeveloped; FelCor Lodging Trust, Inc.)

5. Cassa Hotel, NYC ($130,000,000; HNA Property Holding Group)

4. Hotel Palomar, Washington, DC ($143,800,000; LaSalle Hotel Properties)

3. Doral Golf Resort and Country Club ($150,000,000; Trump Org.)

2. Fairmont San Francisco, ($200,000,000; JV: Woodbridge Capital Partners, et al)

1. Park Central Hotel, NYC ($396,200,000; LaSalle)

Of the 25 U.S. transactions reported by LW Hospitality Advisors, the most expensive of the sales are clearly concentrated around a few key markets: New York City (surprise, surprise), San Francisco, and Washington DC, with Miami showing up via the Trump Organization‘s purchase of the Doral Golf Resort and Country Club.

Even in this Top 10, there is quite a financial difference between the Avalon at 10 and the Park Central Hotel at number one, showing the market has warmed up to hotel transactions of all sizes (and the Park Central, with 934 rooms, is a sizable purchase indeed). Per room, the sales ranged from the mid-300,000′s all the way up to a staggering $788,000 per room (roughly) for Manhattan's Cassa Hotel.

Clearly, the hospitality industry, badly hit by the economic downturn in '08-'09, is rebounding, though occupancy and revPAR levels nonetheless show room for improvement.

#CRE #finance