HEI Hospitality Acquires Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs, Fla.; Property to Undergo $2 Million Renovation

NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 2002--HEI Hospitality today announced that it has acquired the Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs, Fla.
The property was purchased for approximately $22 million from Duluth, Ga.-based Southern States Management Company. HEI acquired the hotel in a joint venture with Prudential Real Estate Investors, which has more than $11 billion of real estate assets worldwide.
The hotel will undergo a $2 million renovation scheduled to begin by year end, focused on the meeting space and business class rooms. The Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs will be operated by Smilezzzz Hospitality, a wholly owned subsidiary of HEI Hospitality.
The property is in overall good shape and will benefit from our key upgrade program designed to make the hotel more appealing to business and leisure travelers, said Gary Mendell, principal of HEI Hospitality. We believe the Altamonte Springs area is a great location. Although the overall Orlando market has suffered from the aftereffects of the terrorists attacks, we believe this hotel has great growth potential, especially after we complete the upgrade program. Previously, it earned some of the highest guest satisfaction scores in the Hilton system, and we intend to build on that good will.
James Sega has been named general manager of the hotel, according to David McCaslin, principal in HEI and president of Smilezzzz. Jim joins us from the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, where he was general manager. We also named Norman Justice as controller, formerly a regional controller for MeriStar Hotels & Resorts. With these key personnel changes, the transition has gone very smoothly. We expect the ownership change to be transparent to guests and employees, and the refurbishment program to cause very little, if any, disruption to guests. We really like this hotel and the market and look forward to quickly becoming part of the community.
The 322-room Hilton Orlando/Altamonte Springs is located at the Altamonte Drive exit of Interstate 4. Located in the center of Orlando's primary commercial district with more than 12.8 million square feet of office space, the hotel is located near the 1.1-million square-foot Altamonte Mall, the area's main retail operation.
The hotel features Lofton's, a 100-seat restaurant, and a lobby lounge. With nearly 16,000 square feet of meeting space, the property can comfortably handle functions from several people to groups of 600. The property also has a swimming pool and a fitness center.
HEI Hospitality, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut is an ownership/investment and hotel management group that owns and manages first-class and full-service hotels throughout the United States.

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Date Listed: 2002-09-04

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Category: Development
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