Hersha Hospitality Trust, a real estate investment trust and owner of nationally franchised, upscale and mid-scale hotels, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of the previously announced five-hotel portfolio in the Philadelphia and Wilmington metropolitan region for $48.9 million in cash. The portfolio includes a Marriott Courtyard, three Holiday Inn Express hotels, and an independently branded hotel, aggregating 480 rooms. The hotels will be managed by Hersha Hospitality Management.

“These hotels are located in leading sub-markets in the Philadelphia, Pa. and Wilmington, Del. metros with multiple corporate and leisure demand generators,” said Jay H. Shah, Hersha’s president and chief operating officer. “We believe our aggressive asset management, the recent repositioning of several of the hotels and the concentration of these properties in high-barrier-to-entry markets give this portfolio considerable upside potential for the foreseeable future. This is an extremely attractive portfolio that fits perfectly with our acquisition strategy focusing on the Northeast corridor, with opportunities for cross sales and marketing efforts and management economies of scale. We expect this portfolio acquisition to be accretive and to lend support to our sector-leading dividend.”

—The 155-suite Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites King of Prussia, located at 260 N. Gulph Road in King of Prussia, Pa. The hotel enjoys a premiere location directly across from the King of Prussia Mall, the largest mall on the East Coast with 22 million visitors annually. Additionally, it is surrounded by 16 million square feet of office space including Merck Pharmaceuticals, Prudential Insurance, Aetna, and Lockheed Martin. The hotel is within two miles of the Valley Forge historical sites and situated at the nexus of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Rte. 202, and the Schuylkill Expressway.

—The 88-room Holiday Inn Express Oxford Valley, located at 3101 W. Cabot Blvd., in Bucks County, Pa. The hotel is less than one mile from both Sesame Place and the Oxford Valley Mall and offers easy access to both the Pennsylvania Turnpike and US 1. Lower Bucks County offers more than 4 million square feet of office.

—The 88-room Holiday Inn Express of Frazer-Malvern, located at 1 Morehall Road in Frazer, Pa. Located off Routes 29 and 30 in the Route 202 business corridor, the hotel is adjacent to Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, within one mile of the Vanguard Group of Funds, and surrounded by 8 million square feet of office space. The property includes a restaurant pad site and additional land to develop a hotel, restaurant, or office building.

—The 78-room Courtyard by Marriott Wilmington, Del., located at 320 Rocky Run Parkway. The hotel enjoys a virtually irreplaceable location nestled among over 5 million square feet of class A office space; major tenants include AstraZeneca, DuPont, Cigna, and MBNA. The property is conveniently located off Route 202 and I-95 and is close to the Brandywine region’s rich cultural and leisure attractions.

—The 71-room independently branded hotel located at 300 Rocky Run Parkway in Wilmington, adjacent to the Courtyard. This hotel may be re-branded to a premium national brand.
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