Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels is pleased to announce the sale of the fee simple interest in the Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport on behalf of its owners, Kor Hotel Group and its partners. The hotel was purchased by Chicago-based Harp Group and its equity partners Fidelity Investments Real Estate Group and Blue Vista Capital Partners. The hotel is strategically located on West Century Boulevard next to Los Angeles International Airport.
The Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Los Angeles International Airport is a unique airport hotel with a strong brand affiliation and provides 802 spacious guestrooms including 103 suites. The recently renovated hotel is a first choice in lodging for many travelers because of its contemporary style and immediate proximity to Terminal 1. The hotel has a total of approximately 48,000 square feet of meeting space with 38 flexible meeting rooms and event spaces. The property also contains four food and beverage outlets, including Shula’s Steakhouse and a full service Starbucks Café, as well as a state-of-the-art fitness center and an outdoor pool.
“The Harp Group recognizes the upside potential of this market,” said John Strauss, executive vice president for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. “The LAX hotel market has performed extremely well in recent years with occupancies for the major hotels topping 80% and RevPAR increases at almost 8% year-to-date. These strong underlying fundamentals coupled by the high cost of new construction and lack of available sites around LAX, one of the world’s busiest airports, made this a strategic offering to a collection of domestic and international investors that pursued the transaction. This sale following the trade of Hyatt Century City in the second quarter further demonstrates strong investor appetite for high quality hotel properties in the greater Los Angeles area despite a more challenging debt environment and concerns about the overall economy.”
Jones Lang LaSalle’s Real Estate Investment Banking team, led by David Christensen and Jeffrey Davis, also secured $65 million in aggressively priced acquisition financing for the Harp Group and its equity partners.
“Harp plans on continuing a franchise affiliation with Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. Chicago-based Portfolio Hotels & Resorts will assume management company responsibilities following the closing,” said Alan Tantleff, an executive vice president for Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels.
About Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels
Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, the first and leading global hotel investment services firm, is uniquely positioned to provide both the depth and breadth of advice required by hotel investors and hotel companies, through a robust and integrated local network. In 2007, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels provided sale and purchase advice on 259 hotel transactions globally; representing a combined value of US$13.9 billion, a total of 54,763 hotel rooms in 84 cities. In addition advisory and valuation services were provided on 660 assignments globally for 182,048 rooms across more than 300 cities.
The global team comprises over 270 hotel specialists, operating from 31 offices in 18 countries. The firm’s advice is supported by a dedicated global research team, which produced over 45 publications in 2007 in addition to client research. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ services span the hospitality spectrum; from luxury single assets and large portfolios to select service and budget hotels, resorts and pubs. Their services include investment sales, mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, valuation and appraisal, asset management, strategic planning, operator selection, management contract negotiation, consulting, industry research and project development services. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels’ clients have access to the resources of its parent company, Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE: JLL). www.joneslanglasallehotels.com
About The Kor Group
An innovative presence in the real estate and travel communities, The Kor Group is a privately held real estate investment firm comprised of integrated development, design and construction, real estate sales and marketing, and hotel management divisions. Its curatorial approach to creative lifestyle experiences and passion for authentic, world-class visionary design has set the company apart since its inception in 1989.
With a $2.5 billion cumulative asset & development portfolio and vigorous investment performance, Kor's success reflects its unique combination of experience and entrepreneurship. The company counts over 1,600 employees located at its Los Angeles headquarters, satellite offices in Dallas; Miami; Playa del Carmen, Mexico; and Vancouver, and at properties worldwide.
Kor's current portfolio includes 20 uniquely designed hotel assets in operation or under development and 12 residential properties located in Southern California. Kor's development arm has undertaken over $750 million in development and refurbishment costs to date. Its current ground-up and renovation projects under development include over two million square feet of for-sale product in Los Angeles; and luxury resorts and residences in Anguilla, B.W.I.; Riviera Maya, Playa del Carmen and Zihuatanejo, Mexico; and Miami, Florida
About The Harp Group
Based in Oak Brook, IL, The Harp Group (www.theharpgroup.com) is a real estate investment and development company that specializes in hospitality destinations. It is developing and renovating nearly a dozen demand-driven hospitality-related properties across the United States, including the Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, Wheeling, IL; Freedom Commons, Naperville, IL; and The Ambassador East and Pump Room, Chicago. The Harp Group is one of four companies comprising The Crescendo Companies (www.thecrescendocompanies.com), a privately-held company specializing in retail, hospitality and restaurant investment, development and management, with more than $1.2 billion in projects under development.