MIAMI – HFF announced today that it has closed the sale of the Residence Inn Birmingham Downtown at UAB, a 129-suite extended-stay hotel in the downtown/Five Points South submarket of Birmingham, Alabama.
HFF marketed the property on behalf of the owner, Birmingham Hospitality Properties, L.L.C. An affiliate of Capstone Development of Washington, D.C. purchased the asset on an all-cash basis.
The Residence Inn Birmingham Downtown at UAB is located in the historic Five Points South dining and entertainment district, within blocks of the University of Alabama medical campus and the downtown central business district, and about six miles from the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport. The seven-story brick-facade building was recently completed in 2009 and features an outdoor swimming pool, fitness center, business center, breakfast area and sundry shop.
The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by senior managing director and head of HFF’s Hotel Group, Daniel C. Peek, managing director Holden Lim and director Max Comess, and included hospitality real estate analysts Chris Lingerfelt and Alexandra Lalos.
“There has never been more liquidity among investors seeking premium-branded, select-service hotels in major U.S. markets,” commented Comess. “Our buyer is a fine example of the sophisticated, well-capitalized institutional investors seeking opportunities in both primary and secondary markets.”
“As the cycle matures and competition increases, we are seeing savvy investors expand their interest to the top 50 or so U.S. markets, which includes secondary and tertiary destinations, whereas 12 to 18 months ago, most investors were only considering opportunities in the top 10 or 12 markets,” added Peek.
“This is the fourth hotel HFF has sold on behalf of Fremont Realty Capital in the past 12 months. We would like to thank Fremont Realty Capital for entrusting HFF to assist with the execution of such an important assignment,” commented Lim.
HFF’s Hotel Group has been active in the sale and financing of similar upscale, select-service hotels across the country. So far in 2013, the firm has financed or sold 60 hotels and resorts, many of which are select-service hotels, with sale prices and loan proceeds ranging from $5 million to over $500 million.
Birmingham Hospitality Properties, L.L.C. is an affiliate of Fremont Realty Capital, a San Francisco-based private investment company. The seller was represented by Holland and Knight.
Capstone Development, LLC is a Washington, D.C.- based firm that specializes in the acquisition and development of high-quality urban lodging assets. Capstone acquired the Residence Inn Birmingham Downtown on behalf of its joint venture with a major U.S. pension fund advisor. Founded in 2008, Capstone and its joint-venture partners currently have over $225 million of equity capital under management. For more information, please visit: www.capstonedevco.com.
HFF (Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P.) and HFFS (HFF Securities L.P.) are owned by HFF, Inc. (NYSE: HF). HFF operates out of 21 offices nationwide and is a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the U.S. commercial real estate industry. HFF together with its affiliate HFFS offer clients a fully integrated national capital markets platform including debt placement, investment sales, equity placement, advisory services, loan sales and commercial loan servicing. For more information please visit www.hfflp.comor follow HFF on Twitter at www.twitter.com/hff.