Carlyle acquires four hotels in the Bay Area

The Carlyle Group has acquired four hotels in the San Francisco Bay area as it continues to invest in the US lodging sector.

Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group has announced it has bought a portfolio of four hotels in Northern California. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The portfolio includes the 309-room Crowne Plaza Hotel near San Francisco International airport, the 230-room Holiday Inn in northeast Sacramento, the 198-room Holiday Inn Concord and the 155-room Holiday Inn Walnut Creek.

Paul Brady, managing director of Carlyle’s US real estate group, said in a statement he believes the Bay Area to be a hot zone for potential investors. “The San Francisco Bay area is one of the last markets to recover from the latest economic downturn and we’re now seeing considerable growth there,” he said.

He added that the firm plans to invest approximately $8 million (€6 million) to upgrade the properties and has hired Dallas-based Prism Hotels and Resorts to “re-focus the management efforts at the properties.” Prism currently manages over six thousand rooms across the US and the Caribbean.

In April, Carlyle committed $100 million to a joint venture with publicly listed lodging REIT MHI Hospitality to acquire and develop hotel assets. MHI will identify investment opportunities for the venture, while Carlyle’s latest US property fund, Carlyle Realty Partners V, will commit equity to the projects.

In February, the firm acquired the Sheraton College Park in suburban Washington, DC from Boston-based Pyramid Advisors for an undisclosed amount. The firm plans to renovate the property. In January, it acquired the Houston Sofitel Hotel from Paris-based Accor Worldwide. That property will be converted to a Crowne Plaza hotel and undergo a $12-million renovation.

Following the most recent acquisition in California, the four properties will continue to operate under the Intercontinental Hotels Group brand. IHG, based in the UK, is the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms.