ALIS Awards Finalists Announced | Most Noteworthy Hospitality Investment Deals and Executives Honored at ALIS Conference

Development of the Year 2010

• The 607-room InterContinental Hotel – New York, New York, developed at a cost of $500 million by affiliates of Tishman Hotel & Realty LP of New York and managed by the InterContinental Hotels Group.
• The 878-room JW Marriott, 123-room Ritz-Carlton and 224 Ritz-Carlton Residences at the Marriott Complex at L.A. LIVE – Los Angeles, California, developed at a cost of $1 billion by the Anschutz Entertainment Group and managed by Marriott International, Inc.
• The 305-room, 143 residence W Hollywood Hotel – Hollywood, California, developed at a cost of $375 million by Gatehouse Capital.

Single Asset Transaction of the Year 2010

• LaSalle Hotel Properties purchase of the 237-room Hotel Sofitel – Lafayette Square – Washington, D.C., for $95 million, or approximately $400,844 per room, from GEM Realty Capital and Whitehall Street 2005 International.
• Omni Hotels & Resorts purchase of the 249-room Amelia Island Plantation – Amelia Island, Florida, for $67.1 million or approximately $269,000 per room at bankruptcy auction, from Amelia Island Company.
• Sunstone Hotel Investors purchase of the 412-room Royal Palm – Miami Beach, Florida, for $126.1 million, or approximately $306,000 per room, from Wachovia (Wells Fargo) Bank.

Merger & Acquisition of the Year 2010

• A consortium led by Centerbridge Partners, Paulson & Co., and The Blackstone Group completed the acquisition of Extended Stay Hotels for approximately $3.9 billion.
• Interstate Hotels & Resorts completed its merger with Hotel Acquisition Co., a 50/50 joint venture between a private equity fund sponsored by Thayer Lodging Group and Jin Jiang International Hotels, valued at approximately $307 million.
• Voyager Partners, an affiliate of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co., acquired a stake in Fairmont Raffles Holdings International. The deal comprised of a $467 million consideration for the sale of a 40% stake in Fairmont Raffles Holdings International and an option to acquire a hotel in Singapore for $275 million.

Jack A. Shaffer Financial Advisor of the Year 2010

• Robert Koger, President, Molinaro Koger
• Jack J. Vissicchio, Managing Director, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
• Robert J. Webster, Managing Director, Hodges Ward Elliott
• John C. Portman, Jr., chairman of John Portman & Associates, Inc., Portman Holdings, LLC, and AmericasMart, also will be honored with the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

Co-hosted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) and Burba Hotel Network (BHN), the two-and-a-half-day ALIS event features an extensive array of seminars and panels hosted by leading experts and investors discussing important trends and identifying new opportunities. The conference attracts the lodging industry's leading hotel executives, investors, lenders, developers, and professional advisory community. Proceeds from ALIS benefit the educational, research, and training missions of the Educational Institute (EI) of the American Hotel & Lodging Education Foundation (AH&LEF), AH&LA's nonprofit affiliate.

Online registration is available via the ALIS Website. For general event information and sponsorship opportunities, contact Stephany Chen, BHN associate, at (714) 540-9300 or [email protected].

Serving the hospitality industry for a century, AH&LA is the sole national association representing all sectors and stakeholders in the lodging industry, including individual hotel property members, hotel companies, student and faculty members, and industry suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides members with national advocacy on Capitol Hill, public relations and image management, education, research and information, and other value-added services to provide bottom line savings and ensure a positive business climate for the lodging industry. Partner state associations provide local representation and additional cost-saving benefits to members.

AH&LEF is the charitable fund-raising and endowed fund-management subsidiary of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. Founded in 1953, AH&LEF is the premier organization for scholarships, professional certification, and instructional material as well as funding for hospitality industry research.

BHN is the worldwide leader in developing and organizing conferences for the hotel and tourism investment community. With more than two decades of experience, over 70 events completed to date, and more than 56,000 international delegates, BHN conferences have become "must attend" events for industry leaders who come together to network, conduct business and to learn about the latest trends. BHN events include: the Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS) in San Diego; the ALIS Summer Update in Los Angeles; the Central America Tourism & Hotel Investment Exchange (CATHIE); the Caribbean Hotel & Resort Investment Summit (CHRIS) in Miami; the Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in Hong Kong; HICAP UPDATE Singapore; HICAP UPDATE Japan in Tokyo; and the Hotel Investment Forum India (HIFI) in Mumbai. The BHN website at www.Burba.com is the gateway for information about the conferences BHN produces, as well as a direct link to important players in the hospitality investment world.