Tampa, Florida, September 11, 2012 – The Plasencia Group, Inc., announced that it has served as exclusive investment advisor to an affiliate of The Carlyle Group in sale of the Westin Annapolis to a private real estate fund advised by Crow Holdings Capital Partners, L.L.C. The transaction closed on September 10, 2012.
 
According to Steve Kindl, Senior Vice President for The Plasencia Group, “This is a quality property that commanded a strong price-per-key. And this investment has given the buyer the opportunity to deploy targeted capital on a contemporary asset in a very strong leisure market.”
 
The 225-room Westin is located at 100 Westgate Circle, in the heart of downtown Annapolis, Maryland. The 225-room Westin, which opened in 2007, is the hub of a European-style plaza surrounded by restaurants, shops, offices and upscale condominiums. The hotel is situated in the city’s revitalized West Street business corridor, less than two miles from the U.S. Naval Academy and Chesapeake Bay. Downtown Annapolis, with its cobblestone streets and historic landmarks, is only minutes away.
 
Lou Plasencia, Chief Executive Officer of The Plasencia Group commented, “We are most pleased to have once again served as advisor to Carlyle on the sale of this hotel. Our entire team has truly enjoyed working on what is clearly a win-win arrangement for both companies that have a great respect for each other.”

About The Plasencia Group, Inc. 
Founded in 1993, The Plasencia Group provides hospitality investment sales, consulting, and advisory services throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. The Plasencia Group offers personalized lodging-related investment sales opportunities, asset disposition, and advisory services to life insurance companies, private equity firms, pension funds, and private owners of hotels, resorts, and golf courses. With offices across the country, TPG offers a full range of value-added solutions, including single asset and portfolio dispositions, strategic portfolio analysis, note sales, operations benchmarking, operator and brand negotiations, hotel development consulting, asset management, and debt and equity placement.

The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $156 billion of assets under management across 99 funds and 63 fund of fund vehicles as of June 30, 2012. Carlyle's purpose is to invest wisely and create value. Carlyle invests across four segments – Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Fund of Funds Solutions – in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs 1,300 people in 32 offices across six continents.
 
About Crow Holdings Capital Partners, L.L.C.
Crow Holdings Capital Partners, L.L.C. (CHCP) was established in late 2010 in response to new regulations and to expand the business of Crow Family Holdings, which was formed in the early 1990’s to exclusively manage the assets of the Trammell Crow Family.  Since 1998, CHCP and CHCP-affiliated entities have managed a series of real estate private equity funds that are designed to generate current income and benefit from the capital appreciation of portfolio investments.  These five funds have had total equity commitments from partners of approximately $3.0 billion, approximately $600 million of which was committed by Crow Family Holdings.  As of June 30, 2012, these real estate funds have acquired or developed more than $10 billion in assets comprised of more than 39 million square feet of industrial, over 10 million square feet of retail, over 7 million square feet of office, approximately 20,000 multi-family units, approximately 360 convenience & gas stores, over 7,500 hotel rooms and almost 6,000 acres of lot development.