SUMMIT PAYS BIG FOR ATLANTA COURTYARD

January 23, 2012 | 7:00 am ET Staff Reporter

So, how much did you spend for your last hotel room? A hundred a night? Two hundred? Well, a South Dakota hotel investor just spent $191k per room for a Downtown Atlanta Courtyard by Marriott.

News broke at our Hotel Investment Summit last Friday that hospitality REIT Summit Hotel Properties had just purchased the downtown Courtyard for $28.6M, one of the highest prices paid for a hotel in Atlanta in recent years. Summit also plans to spend an undisclosed amount to renovate, which will give their buy a cap rate between 8% and 9%. As Crestline Hotels & Resorts' EVP Ed Hoganson said on Friday, ?[The price] may be steep today, but in another 21 months… people are going to look back and say, 'Wow, that was a good buy.'?

Actually, the state of Atlanta's hospitality investments was a key topic for the more than 300 people who attended Friday's event. Ed says Atlanta is a great market for ?existing cash-flowing select-service hotels? since there's practically no new supply coming (300 new rooms expected this year only). That should allow hotel operators to push RevPAR up.

Portman Holdings' COO Richard Jones says Atlanta has certainly scared off some investors. ?Some have just drawn a red circle around Atlanta and they're just not buying,? he says, given Atlanta's ?well-known? real estate problems. But ?from an opportunity perspective… it probably is a good market to take a look at,? Richard says. In fact, with Atlanta being one of the few markets where cap rates rose last year, hotels here may be undervalued. Portman pursued Hotel Midtown, which ultimately went to Noble Investments.

We'd like to recognize Thompson Reuters, which sponsored the Hotel Investment Summit. Its Shane Moncrief, who runs the Atlanta property tax consulting division and moderated the event, says, ?We spend every day fighting for truth, justice and lower property taxes.? Still waiting to see his red cape. What's the big tax issue for CRE owners these? Click on the video above to find out.

In fact, click any of the pictures above for quick snapshots of Atlanta commercial real estate.

We also got a little face time with Hardin Construction's Brantley Barrow. Hardin also was a valued sponsor of the event. And more interesting was news that Hardin not only helped build more than 80 hotels nationwide, but also owns quite a few, ?which gives us a rather unique perspective on the industry.?

SUMMIT PAYS BIG FOR ATLANTA COURTYARD

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