Ashford Hospitality Trust Converts Fort Worth Hotel to Hilton
March 29 2006 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Highlights: 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
http://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 DATASOURCE:
Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. 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/
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