HARRISBURG, PA— Hersha Hospitality Trust and its development partner, the Hersha Group, have stepped up the strategic repositioning of their respective hotel portfolios, particularly in metro New York and the Northeast. Transactions over the past few months have seen the REIT shed two Pennsylvania properties— a 107-room Best Western in Indiana and a 45-room Comfort Inn in Denver— as well as a 60-room Comfort Inn at JFK International Airport in New York. Hersha Hospitality Trust received $11.3 million in total for the three properties. On the acquisition end, the REIT most recently entered into a definitive contractual agreement to purchase a 69-room Mainstay Suites and an 87-room Sleep Inn— located in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia— that share a common lobby, front desk and other hotel facilities. The properties are reportedly the first dual-branded hotels within the Choice Hotels International franchise system. Meanwhile, the Hersha Group is reported to have broken ground on a 146-room Hampton Inn in the Chelsea area of Manhattan, and is supposedly set to sign a deal to construct another, as-yet-unbranded 136-room hotel in roughly the same neighborhood. Outside the city, the group is developing a 110-room Doubletree Club Hotel at JFK Airport. In addition, the Hersha Group has similarly been active in central Philadelphia of late, having just opened a 250-room Hampton Inn there in May. As noted by REIT CFO Ashish Parikh, the Hersha Group’s development arm is “continuing to explore development opportunities throughout the metro New York and New England markets,” with an eye particularly turned toward high-end limited service— and occasionally, full-service— properties. All told, the Hersha Hospitality Trust portfolio comprises 20 properties valued at roughly $100 million. Another seven properties are under the aegis of the Hersha Group, with their worth adding some $75 million more to the holdings.
Hampton Inn Philadelphia