Lightstone Value Plus Real Estate Investment Trust (LVPR) has acquired three Marriott-branded hotels in Iowa and Ohio for an aggregate purchase price of USD21m.
The purchased assets are the SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott, both in West Des Moines, Iowa, and the Courtyard by Marriott, in Willoughby, Ohio. The three hotels have a total of 289 keys.
“These are three well-located premium franchise hotels that we believe are primed for growth,” says David Lichtenstein, chairman and chief executive of LVPR. “Two of them, SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott, have been renovated in the past six months, and the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott is scheduled for a complete renovation. We think the locations are ideal, benefiting from the high volume of business travellers frequenting nearby office parks, as well as excellent highway access to routes I-80 and I-90, which link various concentrations of commercial business centres throughout both markets.”
LVPR is a non-traded Reit sponsored by The Lightstone Group, which is also headed by Lichtenstein. The properties will be managed by Paramount Hotel Group, a third- party hotel management company based in New Jersey.
The 97-suite SpringHill Suites is located adjacent to Interstate 80 and two miles east of Interstate 35 in West Des Moines. Renovations of USD1.3m were recently completed and included improvements to the lobby, upgrading bedding and furniture packages and installing new flat panel televisions.
The 102-room Fairfield Inn & Suites is also located adjacent to Interstate 80 and two miles east of Interstate 35 in West Des Moines. A full renovation, costing in excess of USD2m, is planned for the near future.
The 90-room Courtyard by Marriott in Willoughby is adjacent to Interstate 90 about 16 miles east of downtown Cleveland. The hotel recently completed a USD1.5m renovation that included a full upgrade of guestrooms and corridors and the conversion of the lobby to the new “Courtyard Bistro” concept.