Hospitality Net

KB Urban, the high-density, mixed-use subsidiary of KB Home (NYSE:KBH), one of the nation's premier homebuilders and AEG, one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world, today announced an agreement with Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) to open two luxury hotel properties and private residences at the L.A. Live sports and entertainment district currently under construction in downtown Los Angeles.

Marriott Hotel Services, Inc. will be the exclusive hotel operator of the Los Angeles Marriott Marquis and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marriott International, will manage The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Los Angeles. KB Urban and AEG are co-developers of the approximately 2 million square foot property.

Under the terms of the agreement, the complex will include the Los Angeles Marriott Marquis, an 876-room property, which will serve as the headquarters hotel of The Los Angeles Convention Center, and The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles, a 124-room boutique hotel. Above the hotels, and towering over the downtown Los Angeles skyline, will be approximately 216 residential condominiums developed by KB Urban known as The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles. The sales center is scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2007. Opening dates for the properties are scheduled for 2010.

The hotel and residential complex will be housed in an architecturally stunning, Gensler-designed 54-story tower, which will serve as a beacon for L.A. Live. Hotel guests and condominium residents will be at the center of an energetic, world-class sports and entertainment campus, mere steps from STAPLES Center, 7,100-seat Nokia Theater Los Angeles, a 15-screen, 3,800-seat Regal Cineplex, which will include an 800-seat premiere presentation theater, The Grammy(R) Museum and numerous premier restaurants, nightclubs and cafes, and minutes away from Southern California's world-renowned museums and arts institutions, cultural centers, universities, and concert halls.

"We are very pleased and excited to be selected as the hotel component of L.A. Live, one of the largest and most important downtown developments to take place anywhere in the country over the next few years," said J. W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott International, Inc. "We look forward to working with our partners AEG and KB Urban to bring the world-class service and luxury experiences of our Ritz-Carlton and Marriott brands to what surely will be a total experience like no other at L.A. Live."

The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles will include approximately 216 luxuriously appointed private condominiums, ranging from one to four bedrooms. Owners of The Residences will be afforded access to many of the legendary services and world-class amenities of The Ritz-Carlton, such as concierge, valet, housekeeping and in-room catering services. Conceptual plans also include a soaring two-story sky lobby on the 36th floor, a private elevator entree to The Residences, a library, multi-seat home theater and a spa with a fitness center. Additionally, the benefits of ownership will include VIP access to events at STAPLES Center, Nokia Theater Los Angeles and Club Nokia, as well as other special events at entertainment venues owned and operated by AEG around the world.

"KB Urban and AEG's partnership with The Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Hotel brands represents a significant milestone for L.A. Live and for the City of Los Angeles," said KB Urban President Jeffrey M. Gault, AIA. "The prestige of owning a luxury condominium, with Ritz-Carlton amenities and attentiveness, in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, will be tremendously enticing to those who live in the U.S., as well as those who live abroad but spend a considerable amount of time in Southern California." Continued Gault, "For this buyer, a home at The Ritz-Carlton Residences is about needs anticipated, privacy ensured and living a vibrant lifestyle in the center of one of the world's greatest cities. L.A. Live will offer those unforgettable experiences with dining, live entertainment, sporting events and much more."

Situated atop the Los Angeles Marriott Marquis, The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles will offer stunning views of the city skyline. The luxury hotel will feature an outdoor rooftop swimming pool and terrace above a two-story lobby on the 24th floor. A gourmet restaurant and bar will be adjacent to the lobby. The Los Angeles Marriott Marquis will occupy 18 floors, and offer an array of meeting spaces, including the largest ballroom in the city, with capacity for up to 3,000 seated guests. A restaurant, fitness center, and day spa are just some of the special amenities planned for the site.

"This is an extremely momentous agreement not only for L.A. Live but for the Los Angeles Convention Center and the City of Los Angeles as well," said Timothy J. Leiweke, president and CEO of AEG. "The commitment from Marriott International, considered to be the most knowledgeable company on convention center 'headquarters hotels' and their Marriott Marquis and The Ritz Carlton brands, clearly verifies the industry's excitement and enthusiasm for downtown Los Angeles, the convention center and L.A. Live. This incredible property will both energize the Los Angeles convention marketplace, while serving as a central component of L.A. Live, the most significant development ever undertaken in Los Angeles. On behalf of AEG and our partners at KB Urban, we thank the Marriott and The Ritz-Carlton organizations for their commitment to this groundbreaking venture and their commitment to the future of our City."

Peter Remedios, president and managing principal of Remedios Siembieda, Inc., will design the interior spaces for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Los Angeles and The Residences at The Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles. The world-renowned firm has designed hotel interiors, restaurants and spas at such picturesque properties as the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and Beijing, Four Seasons New York, L'Ermitage Beverly Hills, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, and many more throughout North America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Cheryl Rowley, principal of Cheryl Rowley Design, has been selected to design the interior spaces for the Los Angles Marriott Marquis. Rowley's award-winning firm has designed hotels, spas, country clubs and restaurants in such locales as the Four Seasons Buenos Aires, Ojai Valley Inn & Spa, The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, Hotel Monaco in Washington, DC and others across the globe.

As the centerpiece of L.A. Live, the soaring hotel and residential high-rise will complement the architectural design of Nokia Theater Los Angeles, STAPLES Center and other buildings in the vast sports and entertainment district. The 54-story building's elegant exterior will feature a metal and glass curtain wall, and will consist of both vision and non-vision glass units in colors of blue and green and patterns to create a distinctive profile, emphasizing the slender proportions of the building. As it rises into the downtown skyline, the building will have an ever-changing sculptural quality as it is viewed from throughout Los Angeles.

About KB Home | Building homes for nearly half a century, KB Home is one of America's premier homebuilders with domestic operating divisions in some of the fastest-growing regions and states: West Coast--California; Southwest--Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico; Central--Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas; and Southeast--Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Kaufman & Broad S.A., the Company's publicly-traded French subsidiary, is one of the leading homebuilders in France. In fiscal 2005, the Company delivered homes to 37,140 families in the United States and France. KB Home also offers complete mortgage services through Countrywide KB Home Loans, a joint venture with Countrywide Financial Corporation. Founded in 1957, and ranked the #1 homebuilder in Fortune Magazine's 2006 list of America's Most Admired Companies, KB Home is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "KBH." For more information about any of KB Home's new home communities, call 888-KB-HOMES (888-KB-CASAS) or visit www.kbhome.com (www.kbcasa.com).

About AEG | AEG is one of the leading sports and entertainment presenters in the world. AEG, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Anschutz Company, owns or controls a collection of companies including facilities such as STAPLES Center, The Forum (as exclusive booking agent for sports and entertainment programming), Toyota Sports Center, Toyota Park, Anaheim Arena (as preferred booking agent), NOKIA Theatre Times Square, NOKIA Theatre at Grand Prairie and London's Manchester Evening News Arena; sports franchises throughout the world including the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), Los Angeles Riptide (MLL) and four MLS franchises. In addition, AEG has recently developed and opened The Home Depot Center, a $150 million national training "campus" in Carson, California designated as an "Official U.S. Olympic Training Site" by the United States Olympic Committee that includes major facilities for soccer, tennis, track & field, cycling, action sports, beach volleyball, basketball and other sports. The company's live entertainment division, AEG LIVE is one of the world's leading concert promotion and touring organization.

AEG is overseeing the development of L.A. Live, a 4 million square foot / $2.5 billion downtown Los Angeles sports & entertainment district featuring NOKIA Theatre Los Angeles, a 7,100-seat state-of-the-art live theatre, a 50-story, 1100-room convention "headquarters" hotel, Club NOKIA, a 2,200 capacity live music venue, a 14-screen Regal Cineplex, "broadcast" facilities for ESPN, along with entertainment, restaurant, residential and office space. The company has begun fully developing the 28-acre Millennium Dome and adjacent property located in the eastern part of London along the Thames River and will create The O2, which includes a 23,000-seat arena and over 650,000sf of leisure and entertainment use within the 'Dome' and additional arenas, O2 World, on a 45-acre site in the heart of Berlin, in Ontario, California and Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri as well as a soccer stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

About Marriott International | MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading lodging company with nearly 2,800 lodging properties in the United States and 66 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, THE RITZ-CARLTON, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club International, Horizons, The RITZ-CARLTON Club and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 143,000 employees at 2005 year-end. In fiscal year 2005, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of $11.6 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.