Host Hotels Aims To Raise At Least $1B Through Sale Of More Than 10 Properties
One of the largest hotel operators is looking to shake up its portfolio.
Host Hotels & Resorts is shopping a portfolio of more than 10 properties valued at more than $1B, Bloomberg reported, citing sources familiar with the offering.
A complete list of properties in the portfolio hasn’t been released, but bidding is open for selected potential buyers of at least three West Coast properties, the Grand Hyatt San Francisco, W Seattle and the Coronado Island Marriott.
Host Hotels didn’t respond to Bisnow’s request for comment and declined to comment to Bloomberg.
Host Hotels CEO Jim Risoleo signaled on an investor call in November that the publicly traded REIT would likely gauge market interest for some of its noncore assets in 2025.
“We're likely to test the market,” he said. “We'll see what pricing comes back at. If pricing is attractive, we'll sell. If it's not, we'll pull back and invest in the assets ourselves.”
Still, Risoleo said Host Hotels was aiming to be a “net acquirer” of property, adding that the REIT was sitting on dry powder for potential deals.
Host Hotels’ acquisitions in 2024 included paying Blackstone $725M for the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu, Hawaii, and the $265M cash purchase of 1 Hotel Central Park in New York.
In the third quarter, the firm beat analyst expectations with $1.4B in revenue, but its earnings-per-share fell 25% from the prior year to 12 cents. The REIT repurchased $107M of its stock in 2024, but the stock shed more than 10% of its value over the same period.
The hotel industry has returned to some semblance of stability after the pandemic temporarily sucked confidence out of the market.
Analysts expect domestic travel to be stronger in 2025 than last year and the National Travel and Tourism Organization forecasts a 10% increase in international travelers in 2025 to 85 million.
“With moderate revenue growth predicted for 2025, lower cost of capital and increased spending power, the year is widely expected to be a pivotal one for U.S. hotels,” D. Michael Daniel, who covers hospitality at Integra Realty Resources, wrote in a recent report. “It will be marked by a combination of recovering demand, evolving traveler preferences, strategic investment and new benchmarks.”
