Winston Hotels has announced the opening of two newly developed properties: the wholly owned, 142-room Homewood Suites in Princeton, N.J, and the jointly owned 121-room Hilton Garden Inn in Akron, Ohio.Separately, the company announced it completed the sale of the 122-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel for net sale proceeds of $9.7 million, resulting in a gain of approximately $2.8 million. The sale brings to seven the number of hotel dispositions by Winston in 2006.

New Openings

Homewood Suites—The 142-room property in Princeton, N.J. opened today approximately three months ahead of schedule. Located in the Forrestal Center on Highway 1, the hotel is one mile from Princeton University. The Princeton market has approximately 12 million square feet of office space, including 6 million square feet of office space in the Forrestal Center complex.
Hilton Garden Inn—Situated adjacent to the Akron-Canton Airport, the 121-room hotel, opened November 2nd. The property anchors Gateway Corporate Park, a new, 33-acre business park that includes 115,000 square feet of office space, retail and restaurants. Winston holds a 41.7 percent ownership interest in the joint venture and has provided an additional preferred equity investment of $2.2 million.
“We remain focused on constantly seeking ways to enhance our portfolio and shareholder returns,” said Joe Green, president and chief financial officer. “We will continue to execute our strategy of selectively selling assets that no longer meet our long-term operating objectives and reinvest the net sales proceeds into facilities that have what we believe are better long-term growth prospects.”
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