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LaSalle buys Washington DC hotel for nearly $144M

LaSalle Hotel Properties said on Friday that it bought the Hotel Palomar in Washington D.C. for $143.8 million in an off-market transaction.LaSalle said the seller is a discretionary equity fund sponsored by Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group, which will continue to manage the boutique...

LaSalle Hotel Properties said on Friday that it bought the Hotel Palomar in Washington D.C. for $143.8 million in an off-market transaction.

LaSalle said the seller is a discretionary equity fund sponsored by Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group, which will continue to manage the boutique hotel.

LaSalle, a real estate investment trust, raised its full-year financial forecast as a result of the acquisition. LaSalle now expects adjusted funds from operations to range from $2 to $2.12 per share in 2012, up from the company's prior expectations for $1.92 to $2.05.

Analysts, on average, had been expecting adjusted FFO of $1.80 per share, according to FactSet.

Funds from operations adds items like amortization and depreciation to net income, and is considered a key measure of strength for REITs like LaSalle.

La Salle said it paid for the Hotel Palomar acquisition with proceeds from a recent sale of common shares that raised $46.6 million, and through borrowing from an unsecured credit agreement.

The Hotel Palomar is a 335-guest room hotel located one block from Dupont Circle in Washington, near a cluster of foreign embassies as well as Georgetown and George Washington universities.

Shares of LaSalle rose 68 cents, or about 2.5 percent, to $27.12 in morning trading. The stock is near its 52-week high of $28.69, reached in April. Shares traded as low as $15.17 in August.

LaSalle owns 38 upscale hotels in 13 markets across the nation.