Sunday, October 19, 2008

IHR to Manage Jackson Shaw's Hampton Inn Tropicana

Second Contract Expands Interstate/Jackson-Shaw Relationship in Las Vegas

ARLINGTON, VA—Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR), a leading hotel real estate investor and the nation’s largest independent operator of full- and select-service hotels, is now managing the 322-room and suite Hampton Inn Tropicana (top right photo) and adjacent Southwest Event Center (bottom right photo) in Las Vegas, Nev.


It is the largest Hampton Inn among the brand’s more than 1,600 hotels worldwide.

The property, which recently completed a major refurbishment of all guestrooms, public spaces, pool and cabanas, is owned by Jackson-Shaw, a national real estate developer.


“This is our second Las Vegas property with Jackson-Shaw, for whom we also manage the 548-room Renaissance Las Vegas,” said Thomas F. Hewitt, (top left photo) chief executive officer. “Despite the current economic slowdown, Las Vegas remains a major travel destination, attracting more than 36 million tourists annually.

The hotel’s adjoining event center adds an important dimension to the property, which has become a popular venue for business meetings, weddings and other local social events. We believe this contract demonstrates Jackson-Shaw’s confidence in our ability to deliver excellent results at major urban properties.”

“In such a challenging economic environment, Interstate, with its size advantages and depth of experience with the full range of hotel products and market segments, was a logical choice,” said Christopher Sheldon, (middle left photo) vice president of hotel operations at Jackson-Shaw.

“They’ve already produced excellent results for us this year at our full-service Renaissance Las Vegas, and we’re confident they can duplicate that success at the Hampton Inn Tropicana.”


Located at 4975 Dean Martin Drive, a short walk from the fabled Las Vegas Strip lined with colossal mega casinos, the hotel is two miles from McCarran International airport and close to the UNLV campus and Thomas & Mack Center, the Fashion Show Mall and the Sands Convention Center, and the Las Vegas Convention Center.

The Hampton Inn Tropicana and adjoining Southwest Event Center provide a total of 10,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space. The hotel can accommodate groups of up to 180 and offers full catering services and state-of-the-art audio/visual. The event center can accommodate larger meetings of up to 300 people, and can be configured as one grand conference room, a split conference room, a reception foyer, and an outdoor patio.


“We have added more than 50 management contracts to our portfolio this year, and we will continue on our path towards helping owners optimize returns, particularly in this challenging economic climate,” said Leslie Ng, Interstate’s chief investment officer.

For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, visit the company’s Web site: http://www.ihrco.com/.

Contacts:
Julie Tullbane, Daly Gray Public Relations, T 703-435-6293, F 703-435-6297,
julie@dalygray.com
Carrie McIntyre, SVP, Treasurer, (703) 387-3320

Silver-McCann Refinances Northlake Village Apartments in Indianapolis, IN

INDIANAPOLIS, IN/PRNewswire/ -- Silver-McCann Apartment Group, L.P. ("Silver-McCann") announced the refinancing of Northlake Village Apartments (top right photo) in Noblesville (Indianapolis), Indiana, which had been acquired using a bridge loan.

The 347-unit, garden-style community located in the Noblesville submarket of metropolitan Indianapolis was built in 1984 and purchased by Silver-McCann in October 2006.

The property was upgraded in 2007 and 2008 and was 94% occupied at the time of the refinancing. Proceeds from the Freddie Mac capped ARM mortgage originated by Primary Capital Advisors LC were used in part to pay off the original bridge loan.

"In this very difficult financial climate, we were able to close an attractive, long-term mortgage loan with Freddie Mac that both reduced our current debt service on Northlake Village and provided additional capital to Silver-McCann Apartment Group," said John McCann (middle left photo) of McCann Realty Partners.

"We are pleased with the way that we have repositioned Northlake Village and believe that the property has continued growth potential that we can realize over the next two years."

Silver Capital -- a division of Silver Companies -- and McCann Realty Partners closed their latest apartment investment fund, Silver-McCann Apartment Group II, L.P., after purchasing its fifth asset in July 2008.

The second fund closed with total acquisitions of $154 million made over the past 18 months. Since Silver-McCann made its first acquisition in 2005, its two funds have acquired almost 3,200 apartment homes.

Contact: Fleet Wallace, McCann Realty, (804) 290-8870 Bernadette Bruce, Silver Companies, (561) 981-5252

Wyndham Hotel Group Continues Expansion in China with 173-Room Hotel

PARSIPPANY, N.J. -– Ramada Worldwide, a member of the Wyndham Hotel Group family of lodging brands, continues to grow the Ramada® brand in China with the addition of the 173-room Ramada Changzhou upscale hotel in Changzhou, China.

The property, being developed by Changxing Group Co. Ltd, which signed a 20-year franchise agreement with Ramada Worldwide, is scheduled to open in December this year.

Wyndham Hotel Group is the largest U.S.-based hotel franchising company in China today, based on number of hotels, with over 140 properties open and under development under the Wyndham®, Ramada, Days Inn®, Howard Johnson® and Super 8® brand names.

“Wyndham Hotel Group continues to build a strong and diverse global portfolio by working with solid in-market players such as the Changxing Group,” said Tom Monahan, (top right photo) executive vice president of international development for Wyndham Hotel Group International. “The addition of the Ramada Changzhou hotel is indicative of the brand’s commitment to expanding in key markets.”

(Middle left photo, Downtown Changzhou at night)

The Ramada Changzhou hotel will feature a full service restaurant, bar, lobby lounge, fitness center, swimming pool, spa, business center and 325 square meters of meeting space.

Located near the 3000-year-old ancient city of Yancheng, the property is situated on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, just northwest of Shanghai. Changzhou is a part of the Jiangsu province and serves as a key center for China’s textile and food processing industries.

As of June 30, 2008, Wyndham Hotel Group, one of three principal components of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN), encompassed nearly 7,000 hotels representing approximately 581,000 rooms in 65 countries on six continents under the Wyndham, Ramada, Days Inn, Super 8, Wingate® by Wyndham, Baymont Inn & Suites®, Microtel Inns and Suites®, Hawthorn Suites®, Howard Johnson, Travelodge®, Knights Inn® and AmeriHost Inn® brands.

All hotels are owned individually and operated independently or by Wyndham Hotel Management. Wyndham Hotel Group is based in Parsippany, N.J.

Additional information is available at http://www.wyndhamworldwide.com/.

(Bottom right photo, Tianning Temple with pagoda behind it, in Changzhou.)

CONTACT:

Christine Da Silva
Director, Media Relations
Wyndham Hotel Group
1 Sylvan Way
Parsippany, NJ 07054

+1 (973) 753-6590
Christine.DaSilva@WyndhamWorldwide.com