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to Pyramid Advisors/Morgan Stanley Joint Venture; Re-flagging in Progress |
| BOSTON, Mass., January 8, 2004 � A joint venture
between Pyramid Advisors LLC (Pyramid), a Boston-based full-service hotel
company, and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund IV-Domestic (MSREF), a private
real investment fund affiliated with and sponsored by Morgan Stanley, acquired
a portfolio of eight Adam�s Mark hotels comprising 2,887 rooms from St.
Louis, Mo.-based HBE Corporation for $236 million on December 30, 2003.
Pyramid and MSREF plan significant renovations to the assets in 2004, and are currently in discussions with several national brands to re-flag each of the hotels. Pyramid Project Management will oversee all of the renovations, and Pyramid Hotel Group will operate the properties. The portfolio includes eight full-service hotels currently operating under the Adam�s Mark brand in the following locations:
Including this transaction, the Pyramid/MSREF joint venture owns nine hotels. Earlier in the year, Pyramid and MSREF acquired the 604-room Adam�s Mark hotel in Houston, which is undergoing a significant renovation and will be re-flagged as the Houston Marriott Westchase Hotel in 2004. �These properties match up well with our areas of expertise, which include renovating, repositioning and maximizing the operations of large, full-service hotels,� said Richard Kelleher, principal of Pyramid Advisors and former president and CEO of Doubletree Corporation. �We have a long-standing relationship with Morgan Stanley and together will continue to pursue the acquisition of underperforming hotel properties with strong upside potential.� �We believe the hotel industry is poised for recovery and are excited to have acquired this high-quality portfolio at a significant discount to replacement cost. In addition, our partnership with Pyramid has the experience and operating expertise to add significant value to these assets,� said Michael Franco, managing director of Morgan Stanley and head of the Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund � Domestic. Morgan Stanley Real Estate advised the Pyramid/MSREF partnership and Hodges Ward Elliott (�HWE�) advised HBE Corporation on the transaction. Pyramid Advisors LLC, founded in 1999, is a full-service hotel company that owns, manages and asset manages hotels and manages hotel construction/renovation projects. Pyramid Advisors currently has a portfolio of 38 hotels under management and asset management throughout the US. Morgan Stanley Real Estate comprises three major global businesses: Investing, Banking, and Lending. Since 1991, the firm has acquired more than $30 billion of real estate assets worldwide on behalf of its clients. Using its own capital, Morgan Stanley also originates upwards of $7 billion in commercial mortgages annually. In addition, Morgan Stanley Real Estate provides a complete range of investment banking services including merger, acquisition and restructuring advisory and recapitalizations, as well as public and private debt and equity financing. Morgan Stanley established its real estate organization in 1969. |
| Contact:
Pyramid/MSREF Meghan Hargraves
|