Sunburst Sells Vista on Courthouse Apartments
Intends to Invest Proceeds in Hotels
Silver Spring, MD - March 9, 2010 - Sunburst Hospitality announced today that the firm recently sold its Vista on Courthouse apartments in Arlington, Virginia, to Equity Residential for $85 million. This disposition provides Sunburst increased capacity with which to execute hotel acquisitions. Sunburst Hospitality is distinguished for their expertise in timing the market well and optimizing the value of the company's hotel and resort properties.
“We built the Vista project with the intent to bring it to the market after leasing and sales were completed. As a result, we are very pleased with the outcome of the Vista sale. It concludes our foray into real estate sectors other than hospitality at this point in time,” said Kevin Hanley, president and CEO of Sunburst, which owns more than 30 hotels around the U.S., including the 187-room full-service Arlington Court Suites hotel located adjacent to the Courthouse development.
“Now Sunburst is actively looking for opportunistic investment opportunities in the hospitality sector,” Mr. Hanley announced. “Because we are not constrained by brand, we are exploring a variety of acquisitions in midscale and upscale hotels, both limited and full-service.”
The current market provides an opportune time for hotel acquisitions, according to Mr. Hanley.
“The investment side of our industry has been challenged to transact during the past two years as a result of the drying up of the capital markets and a severe shortage of both debt and equity,” commented Mr. Hanley. “We are now in a fortunate position with access to capital and plan to use it to acquire properties.
“Sunburst sees an opportunity on the horizon to acquire quality hotel assets at attractive yields. Similar to the early 1990's, many hotels will trade below replacement cost. As an owner and operator Sunburst is in a unique position to able to acquire hotels on an all-cash basis and leverage their well-established management expertise.”
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