 |
| Jeffrey H. Fisher |
WEST
PALM BEACH, FL, Aug. 4, 2021—Chatham
Lodging Trust (NYSE: CLDT), a hotel real estate investment trust (REIT) focused
on investing in upscale, extended-stay hotels and premium-branded,
select-service hotels, today announced that the company has acquired in
an off-market transaction two, high-quality, premium-branded hotels
comprising 269 rooms at the Domain in Austin, Texas, for $71.2 million, or
approximately $265,000 per room (the “Austin Acquisitions”).
The
acquired hotels include the 132-room Residence Inn Austin Domain, which
opened in July 2016, and the 137-room TownePlace Suites Austin Domain,
which opened in June 2021. Upon stabilization, the Austin Acquisitions are
expected to generate an estimated NOI yield of 8.0% to 8.5%.
 |
132-Room Residence Inn Austin Domain
opened in July 2016 |
“Having
actively managed our way through the worst era in the history of the hotel
industry, our actions have enabled us to emerge from the pandemic with a
stronger balance sheet and more liquidity,” highlighted Jeffrey H. Fisher,
Chatham’s chief executive officer and president.
“This
has given us the flexibility and the confidence to be acquisitive when we
identify opportunities that fit our stringent criteria, and the Austin
Acquisitions are ideal additions to our portfolio.
"Strategically, our acquisitions are aimed
at increasing further our exposure to premium-branded, extended-stay hotels,
enhancing portfolio RevPAR and reducing the average age of our portfolio.
 |
137-room TownePlace Suites Austin Domain
opened in June 2021. |
"The
Austin Acquisitions check all of these boxes, will be two of our four newest
hotels and are expected to producing RevPAR levels higher than our portfolio
average.”
The
Domain is a rapidly growing mixed-use development known as Austin’s “second
downtown” with over 4.2 million square feet of office space, 1.8 million square
feet of retail space, plus another 2.8 million additional square feet of office
space expected to be delivered over the next two years and another 3.8 million
square feet of office space planned thereafter.
Companies
with large offices located at The Domain include IBM, Amazon, Facebook, Indeed,
Expedia / VRBO and Trend Micro Companies.
Apple
currently is constructing a 2 million square foot office campus approximately 5
miles from the Austin Acquisitions that will cost over $1 billion and
eventually accommodate around 15,000 employees.
For
comparison purposes, Apple Park, Apple’s main campus in Cupertino, Calif., is
approximately 2.8 million square feet.
Other
key Austin attributes that will drive significant demand include:
- · Austin receives over 27
million visitors annually
- · Austin is considered one of
the nation’s dominant tech hubs after Silicon Valley
- · Austin is the third fastest
growing city in the United States over the last decade
- · Austin was ranked the most
desirable real estate investment market in the country in CBRE’s 2021 Investor
Intentions survey
- · #1 real estate market in
2020 according to the Urban Land Institute and PwC
- · In its 2019 rankings, Business
Insider ranked Austin the best place to live, and Travel and
Leisure ranked Austin a top 10 city to visit
- · The Austin office market
ranks fourth nationally in terms of rent per square foot at $49 (only behind
New York, San Francisco and Silicon Valley) and third nationally in percentage
of square feet under construction relative to existing square feet at 10%
· The $260 million Austin FC
Stadium recently opened up within a short walking distance of both hotels
 |
| $200 Million Austin FC Stadium |
Fisher
concluded: “Austin is unique in that it
benefits from strong corporate, group and leisure demand as evidenced by many
of these market attributes, and the Domain is an absolutely booming market
within Austin.
"The
Austin Acquisitions are in an outstanding location within walking distance of
everything the Domain has to offer.
"We
will be able to leverage our deep relationships with key accounts in our other
markets such as Silicon Valley or Bellevue, Wash., to drive higher RevPAR
performance in Austin.
"Lastly,
the Austin Acquisitions will generate premium RevPAR growth over the next
cycle, be accretive to FFO and enhance our net asset value/"
Chatham
funded the purchase using a portion of the proceeds from the recently completed
Series A Preferred Share offering.
The
hotels will be managed by Island Hospitality Management, which is owned by
Fisher.
CONTACTS:
CHRIS
DALY
PRESIDENT
DG
Public Relations, LLC
42806
Oatyer Court
Broadlands,
Va. 20148
Main:
703-435-6293
Mobile:
703-864-5553
chris@dalygray.com | www.dalygray.com
chathamlodgingtrust.com.
Dennis Craven
(Company)
Chief Operating
Officer
(561) 227-1386
