Highlights:
- Rebranding to Hilton includes $10.5 million renovation
- Repositioning expected to accelerate RevPAR penetration and improve
margins
- Puts adjacent 220-room East Tower up for sale as conversion to office
building
DALLAS, March 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.
(NYSE: AHT) announced it has completed a $10.5 million renovation and
rebranding of the 294-room Hilton Fort Worth, formerly the Radisson Plaza
Hotel Fort Worth. Located in downtown Fort Worth, Texas, the hotel is
registered as a national historic landmark.
Featuring 294 guestrooms and suites, including one suite over 2,000 square
feet, the Hilton Fort Worth is located in downtown Fort Worth across the
street from the Fort Worth Convention Center and steps away from famous
Sundance Square, with great entertainment, shopping and dining. Fort Worth
attractions convenient to the hotel include Six Flags Over Texas, Fort Worth
Zoo, Billy Bob's Texas, Fort Worth Cultural District and the Kimball Art
Museum. Built in the 1920's and known as the Hotel Texas, the hotel has been
an integral part of Fort Worth and Texas history, including accommodating
President Kennedy the evening before his death.
Ashford has also elected to sell the former 220-room East Tower of the
hotel as an office building. Built in 1969, the 13-floor East Tower measures
approximately 228,000 square feet and can be readily converted to first class
office space. The Company expects the sale to close by the end of the year.
The proceeds of the sale will be invested in value-added renovations or
additional acquisitions. Following the sale of the East Tower, the Company's
net investment in this full-service urban Hilton Hotel will be less than
$85,000 per key.
Monty J. Bennett, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ashford,
commented, "The Hilton brand is the perfect fit for our strategic objectives
with this asset. With Hilton, we are able to reposition this historic hotel to
cater to higher-end business travelers and select group customers as well as
Hilton HHonors(R) members. Consistent with the many other renovations recently
completed and underway across our portfolio, we also expect the investment in
upgrading the guestrooms, function space and amenities of the hotel to
significantly enhance the operating results of the Hilton Fort Worth through
higher occupancy, ADR, RevPAR penetration and flow through. With the sale of
the former East Tower, we expect to be able to realize further value by
capitalizing on the strong demand for prime office space in downtown Fort
Worth."
Each room at the Hilton Forth Worth is now equipped with the new Hilton
Serenity Bed, which features the Serta Suite Dreams(R) mattress and box
springs, Pacific Coast(R) down duvet, Super Topper mattress pads, and high-
quality linens and pillows. The hotel's 35,000 square feet of meeting, pre-
function and ballroom space has been completely renovated. The hotel has a new
Skylight Court Lounge on the second floor, a new Concierge Lounge that serves
two executive floors, and a new 24-hour self-service business center. Guests
can enjoy meal service at the newly-renovated Cafe Texas, or relax with an
espresso and fresh-baked pastry at Biscotti's Coffee Bar. Wireless and
hardwired high speed Internet access is available in all guest rooms, meeting
and public space at the hotel
Ashford Hospitality Trust is a self-administered real estate investment
trust focused on investing in the hospitality industry across all segments and
at all levels of the capital structure, including direct hotel investments,
first mortgages, mezzanine loans and sale-leaseback transactions. Additional
information can be found on the Company's web site at www.ahtreit.com.
Certain statements and assumptions in this press release contain or are
based upon "forward-looking" information and are being made pursuant to the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties.
When we use the words "will likely result," "may," "anticipate," "estimate,"
"should," "expect," "believe," "intend," or similar expressions, we intend to
identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include,
but are not limited to, the impact of the transaction on our business and
future financial condition, our business and investment strategy, our
understanding of our competition and current market trends and opportunities
and projected capital expenditures. Such statements are subject to numerous
assumptions and uncertainties, many of which are outside Ashford's control.
These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks
and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from
those anticipated, including, without limitation: general volatility of the
capital markets and the market price of our common stock; changes in our
business or investment strategy; availability, terms and deployment of
capital; availability of qualified personnel; changes in our industry and the
market in which we operate, interest rates or the general economy; and the
degree and nature of our competition. These and other risk factors are more
fully discussed in Ashford's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. EBITDA is defined as net income before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization. Net operating income is the property's funds
from operations minus a capital expense reserve of 4% of gross revenues. Funds
from operations ("FFO"), as defined by the White Paper on FFO approved by the
Board of Governors of the National Association of Real Estate Investment
Trusts ("NAREIT") in April 2002, represents net income (loss) computed in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"), excluding
gains (or losses) from sales or properties and extraordinary items as defined
by GAAP, plus depreciation and amortization of real estate assets, and net of
adjustments for the portion of these items related to unconsolidated entities
and joint ventures.
The forward-looking statements included in this press release are only
made as of the date of this press release. Investors should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. We are not obligated to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or circumstances, changes in expectations or
otherwise.
Contact: Douglas Kessler
COO and Head of Acquisitions
(972) 490-9600
Tripp Sullivan
Corporate Communications, Inc.
(615) 254-3376
SOURCE Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.
-0- 03/29/2006
/CONTACT: Douglas Kessler, COO and Head of Acquisitions of Ashford
Hospitality Trust, Inc., +1-972-490-9600; or Tripp Sullivan of Corporate
Communications, Inc., +1-615-254-3376/
/Web site: http://www.ahtreit.com /
(AHT)
CO: Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.; Radisson Plaza Hotel Fort Worth
ST: Texas
IN: RLT FIN TRA LEI
SU: TNM
CT-AK
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0355 03/29/200608:00 ESThttp://www.prnewswire.com