LaSalle buys Washington DC hotel for nearly $144M
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — LaSalle Hotel Properties said on Friday that it bought the Hotel Palomar in Washington D.C. for $143.8 million in an off-market transaction.
LaSalle said the seller is a discretionary equity fund sponsored by Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group, which will continue to manage the boutique hotel.
LaSalle, a real estate investment trust, raised its full-year financial forecast as a result of the acquisition. LaSalle now expects adjusted funds from operations to range from $2 to $2.12 per share in 2012, up from the company's prior expectations for $1.92 to $2.05.
Analysts, on average, had been expecting adjusted FFO of $1.80 per share, according to FactSet.
Funds from operations adds items like amortization and depreciation to net income, and is considered a key measure of strength for REITs like LaSalle.
La Salle said it paid for the Hotel Palomar acquisition with proceeds from a recent sale of common shares that raised $46.6 million, and through borrowing from an unsecured credit agreement.
The Hotel Palomar is a 335-guest room hotel located one block from Dupont Circle in Washington, near a cluster of foreign embassies as well as Georgetown and George Washington universities.
Shares of LaSalle rose 68 cents, or about 2.5 percent, to $27.12 in morning trading. The stock is near its 52-week high of $28.69, reached in April. Shares traded as low as $15.17 in August.
LaSalle owns 38 upscale hotels in 13 markets across the nation.
