ATLANTA, GA & LOS ANGELES, CA (August 6, 2015) – Hotel Development Partners (HDP) and funds managed by Ares Management, L.P. (NYSE: ARES) recently announced the purchase of three select service hotels with a total of 248 rooms in North Charleston, South Carolina. The well-positioned hotels include two carrying the Marriott brand—the Residence Inn by Marriott Charleston North/Ashley Phosphate and the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Charleston North/Ashley Phosphate—as well as a third that is part of the Choice Hotels portfolio of brands.
Clustered together in an area just 15 minutes from Historic Downtown Charleston, the hotels provide an opportunity for both leisure and business travelers to enjoy on-site amenities as well as access to many businesses, local attractions and several popular local restaurants.
“HDP and Ares are very fortunate to have the opportunity to invest in these hotels with their industry-leading brands and highly desirable locations in the expanding Charleston market,” said Allen T. O'Brien, CEO, Hotel Development Partners. “To add value and appeal, HDP plans additional renovations to the three properties in the latter part of the year.”
This transaction is the tenth acquisition made by the partnership of HDP and funds managed by Ares, with seven in the greater Atlanta market and now three in the greater Charleston market.
“We are excited to be investing in these three well-established hotel properties with a partner that has both broad local and regional experience as well as a proven track record in managing high-quality hospitality properties,” said Steve Wolf, Partner in the Ares Real Estate Group. “Investments in stable assets that can be further enhanced fit nicely into our longstanding value-add strategy, and we look forward to working with HDP on their repositioning.”
In conjunction with this transaction, Atlanta-based Hotel Equities, which has a joint venture partnership with HDP, assumed management of the three hotels. "This portfolio addition gives us three Marriott hotels in Charleston and a total of four in a market that continues to grow, especially in the northern part of the city," stated Fred Cerrone, Chief Operating Officer of HDP and Founder & CEO of Hotel Equities.
