PHILADELPHIA– Hersha Hospitality Trust (NYSE:HT) (“Hersha” or the “Company”), owner of upscale hotels in urban gateway markets, announced the Company has closed on the purchase of the 77-room Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica, CA for $47.5 million. The Company utilized 1031 exchange proceeds from the recent sale of two suburban Boston hotels to fund The Ambrose acquisition.
“The Ambrose acquisition demonstrates our continuing ability to successfully recycle capital and selectively add to our portfolio of high quality hotels. We remain focused on monetizing value that we have created in stabilized secondary market hotels and redeploying those gains into high-growth hotels in valuable gateway markets. Across 2016, the Company acquired 5 preeminent hotels in Monterey, Washington DC, Boston, Silicon Valley and Santa Monica for $380.9 million. The addition of the Ambrose further hones our geographic mix of urban gateway and destination markets, while focusing the Company’s resources on high RevPAR lifestyle hotels. We have strong conviction in Santa Monica’s sound lodging fundamentals and growing real estate values. Santa Monica is a true seven-day-a-week destination supported by a multiplicity of demand generators, with minimal seasonality and some of the highest barriers to entry in the United States”, stated Mr. Jay H. Shah, Hersha’s Chief Executive Officer.
The Ambrose Hotel is located within Santa Monica’s 7.9 million square-foot Class A office market, and is proximate to Silicon Beach, which includes high profile employers such as Google, Facebook, Apple, IMAX, Hulu and Riot Games. The Ambrose is also one block from St. John’s Heath Center, a private, 234-room hospital renown for clinical excellence and award-winning care. The hotel includes a two-level, 82 space parking garage, in addition to an executive meeting room and a fitness center.
