On Target to Double Portfolio to 100 Hotels Within Three Years
Concord Hospitality Enterprises announced that it has broken ground on its 17th property of 2008, bringing to 15 the number of hotels the company currently has under construction. All of the hotels are premium brands affiliated with the world's leading franchisors and are slated to open between now and year-end 2009. Two of the properties, the SpringHill Suites by Marriott-Waukegan, Ill., and the Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott Pittsburgh, Pa., opened in August.
The remaining 15 under-construction hotels, aggregating more than 2,000 rooms and valued at nearly $350 million, put the company on pace to double the size of its portfolio to more than 100 owned and managed within the next three years.
"We did our first 50 hotels in 20 years, we hope to do our next 50 in three," said Mark Laport, Concord Hospitality president and CEO. "Our accelerated growth will be through a combination of new development, acquisitions/repositionings and third-party management contracts. Our development pipeline is the strongest it's ever been, with 15 being the largest number of properties we've had under construction at one time. Even with a slowing economy and a troubled credit market, we have the ability to move projects forward. We have available equity to invest in new properties, in addition to the capital to develop, acquire and reposition/renovate hotels, and we have long-standing relationships with lenders who know us and know our capabilities."
Laport noted that the 15 under-construction hotels will produce a portfolio with a wider geographical reach. "In 2008, we have added or broken ground on properties in New York, Illinois, Maryland, Alabama and Texas and will break ground in North Carolina by the end of the year. We are gradually increasing our geographic diversification, developing in high-growth regions, like the southwest, in order to spread our business risk across a wider area and lessen our exposure to any one regional economy. As always, we are focusing on markets with solid demographics and high barriers to new supply.
"We continue to aggressively seek additional sites for hotel development, both domestically and overseas," he said. "With the continued globalization of the hotel industry, we see significant international growth opportunities, especially as U.S.-based brands like Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental Hotel Group seek to expand their presence there."
The 15 hotels currently under construction in the Concord pipeline are:
Projected # of
Opening Location Hotel Brand Rooms
Dec-08 Raleigh, N.C. Renaissance 229
Jan-09 Hamilton, Ohio Courtyard conversion 120
Mar-09 Arlington, Texas Hilton Garden Inn 132
May-09 Plano, Texas Residence Inn 102
May-09 Plano, Texas Fairfield Inn & Suites 104
Jun-09 Reading, Pa. Courtyard 135
Jun-09 Cumberland, Md. Fairfield Inn & Suites 108
Jul-09 Webster, Texas Springhill Suites 121
Sep-09 Durham, N.C. Courtyard 82
Aug-09 San Antonio, Texas Courtyard 124
Aug-09 San Antonio, Texas Residence Inn 132
Aug-09 Houston, Texas Springhill Suites 156
Nov-09 Meadowlands, N.J. Springhill Suites 216
Jan-10 Birmingham, Ala. Renaissance 261
Fall 09 Pittsburgh, Pa. Courtyard 124
Total 2,146
