Eagle Hospitality Properties Trust 8.25% Series A Cum PFD (EHPTP)

[vpagano]

Hilton sale in North Carolina:

$16.5 MM / 249 = $66K per room

A joint venture between a Florida hospitality management firm and a New York private equity firm has bought the 249-room Hilton Raleigh-Durham Airport at Research Triangle Park.

Driftwood Hospitality Management and Apollo Global Management acquired the property from GE Capital Real Estate, a unit of General Electric. The purchase price was $16.5 million, according to Durham County property records.

The deal was the third hotel acquired by the joint venture. The other two properties are in Wilmington and Columbus, Ohio.

The Durham hotel is near the intersection of Page Road and Interstate 40, about three miles from RDU. It includes 3,200 square feet of meeting space.

The hotel industry suffered steep declines in occupancy during the recession, which forced owners to offer significant discounts and concessions to get people into rooms. After bottoming out in 2009, the industry has been making a gradual recovery.

The hotel occupancy rate in the Triangle last year was 60.7 percent, up 4.6 percent compared with 2010, according to Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee company that tracks the lodging industry. Revenue per available room, a key industry statistic, has also been increasing in the Triangle, though it remains about 10 percent below where it was four years ago.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/04/04/1980816/hilton-hotel-near-rdu-sold-for.html#storylink=cpy