(courtesy photo)
Starwood Tucson Realty, an affiliate of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT) has completed the sale of Aloft Tucson University at 1900 E Speedway Blvd in Tucson to LVP Tucson, LLC and affiliate of Lightstone Value Plus Real Estate Investment Trust II, Inc., a public, non-traded REIT sponsored by The Lightstone Group ("Lightstone”), a privately held real estate company. The hotel commanded a sale price of $19 million ($123,377 per room) for the 154-room, 7-story hotel.
Originally built in 1972, the hotel underwent a complete redevelopment prior to its re-opening in April 2013 as Aloft Tucson University. Located at the southeast corner of Speedway and Campbell, hotel amenities include an outdoor Splash pool, the brand's signature W XYZ® bar, a 24-hour fitness center and 1,723-square-feet of flexible meeting space, ideal for both business meetings and social gatherings.
As part of the agreement, the hotel will be managed under a long-term license agreement by Island Hospitality Management and continue to fly the Aloft brand flag.
"The sale of Aloft Tucson University highlights Starwood's commitment to an asset-light strategy as we continue to seek the right owners and partners for our remaining owned real estate assets to create value for our shareholders," said Simon Turner, President of Global Development for Starwood. "With favorable capital market conditions and improving hotel industry fundamentals, we're seeing continued strong investor interest in our remaining assets from investors around the globe."
Turner continued: "We are proud of the conversion-friendly strategy we've created for the Aloft brand. The Aloft Tucson University showcases the success of our conversion approach for older hotels with the appropriate capital investment, and its redevelopment allowed us to fine tune our approach to benefit future projects. We are pleased to broaden our relationship with both Lightstone and Island Hospitality Management, and look forward to collaborating with them on the future success of this property."
"This is a premium-branded hotel in a strategic location poised for growth," said David Lichtenstein, Chairman and CEO of The Lightstone Group. "Adjacent to the University of Arizona campus, with a student population of approximately 40,000, and sports complexes, the hotel is also in close proximity to the University of Arizona Medical Center, downtown Tucson, and numerous corporate offices, and has good accessibility to Tucson International Airport and Interstate 10. We believe this acquisition is representative of Lightstone's ability to identify attractive investment opportunities."
The Lightstone Group was founded in 1988, and is a privately held real estate company with a most diversified real estate portfolio. Lightstone's portfolio consists of more than 11,000 multifamily units, 8.1 million square feet of office, hotel, retail and industrial assets, and 12,000 fully-improved residential lots throughout the United States. Lightstone and its affiliates have been one of the largest developers of outlet shopping centers in the United States over the last 10 years. The company has owned, managed and developed 25 outlet centers totaling more than 8 million square feet. Lightstone is one of the most active residential and hospitality developers in New York City with more than $1 billion of projects under development in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.
Lichtenstein of the Lightstone Group can be reached at (732) 369-0129.
[mepr-show rules="58038"]Sale date: 4/9/2014. $4 million down payment. APNs: 125-01-078B & 087A. Sale price included $1.7 million in personal property such as furniture and equipment. [/mepr-show]