Hersha Closes Purchase of Ambrose Hotel for $48M

By IvyLee Rosario

Ambrose Hotel, Santa Monica, Calif.

Santa Monica, Calif.—Hersha Hospitality Trust has announced the closing of its purchase of the Ambrose Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif. The company paid $47.5 million to acquire the 77-key property and used 1031 exchange proceeds from the recent sales of two suburban Boston hotels to fund the purchase.

“The Ambrose acquisition demonstrates our continuing ability to successfully recycle capital and selectively add to our portfolio of high quality hotels,” said Jay Shah, CEO of Hersha, in prepared remarks. “We remain focused on monetizing value that we have created in stabilized secondary market hotels and redeploying those gains into high-growth hotels in valuable gateway markets. Across 2016, the Company acquired 5 preeminent hotels in Monterey, Washington D.C., Boston, Silicon Valley and Santa Monica for $380.9 million. The addition of the Ambrose further hones our geographic mix of urban gateway and destination markets, while focusing the Company’s resources on high RevPAR lifestyle hotels.”

The Ambrose is located within Santa Monica’s 7.9 million-square-foot Class A office market which includes Google, Facebook, Apple, IMAX, Hulu, Riot Games and more. The hotel offers a two-story, 82-space parking garage, an executive meeting room and a fitness center.

“We have a strong conviction in Santa Monica’s sound lodging fundamentals and growing real estate values,” added Shah. “Santa Monica is a true seven-day-a-week destination supported by a multiplicity of demand generators, with minimal seasonality and some of the highest barriers to entry in the United States.”

Image courtesy of the Ambrose Hotel