LOS ANGELES— There’s a perceived mystery surrounding the Blackstone Group’s intentions within the hotel industry because of the fact that it has acquired so many assets recently, and moreso because the firm doesn’t exactly broadcast its strategy to the rest of the world. However, some of that strategy was revealed at the recent Meet the Money 2006 conference here at the Sheraton Gateway, where Alan Miyasaki, a principal with Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, appeared as a panelist during two of the conference’s sessions. During both panel sessions, Miyasaki was practically treated like a dignitary by not only audience members, but other panelists, who strayed away from topics in order to inquire about Blackstone’s motives and planned moves. In response to the many questions about Blackstone’s incredible pace of asset and brand acquisitions, Miyasaki said, “It’s hard to replicate our buying pace from the past 24 months. We bought $13 billion worth of assets, so that’s hard to continue. What we’ve done is special. But we’re a net buyer and we’ll continue to be, but that also depends on the yields available out there.” Miyasaki later asserted that since Blackstone is ultimately only interested in real estate, its current hotel brands— La Quinta, Extended Stay Hotels and LXR Resorts— could one day stand on their own as independent companies. He also added that Blackstone’s typical hold period on purchases is seven to 10 years. Miyasaki also expressed his approval of the current hotel lending environment, in which “every time we go to borrow, it seems spreads are lower.” He also pointed out that there is still a fair amount of growth left in this current hotel cycle and that Blackstone’s recent hotel investments are performing well.
