With the US Capitol, the US Supreme Court, the Smithsonian Museum, Union Station and the new 2.3 million-sf Washington Convention Center as its neighbors, the 11-story Hyatt Regency sits on a full city block in a high-traffic spot at the center of the city. The property underwent a multimillion-dollar renovation in 1999 and now offers 35,000 sf of meeting space including a 10,800-sf ballroom, an amphitheater, and a conference center.

The fact that the hospitality industry has yet to recover from being knocked off its feet following the 2001 terror attacks is not expected to hinder a quick and lucrative sale. "The Federal Government provides a unique stabilizing factor to the city's economy, which has translated into strong and consistent performance for the hotel in recent years," Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels vice president Tom Fisher explains. "The property is in a unique position to take advantage of the strong commercial development outlook in the immediate Capitol Hill sub-market as well as the upswing in the economy."

Indeed, conditions are expected to look up for the hospitality industry in most major metropolitan markets. "US lodging industry performance will improve by year-end 2003," The Hospitality Research Group of PKF Consulting reports in a statement on the company's Trends in the Hotel Industry survey for 2003. "With leading economists forecasting an economic rebound in the Fall, current HRG projections call for a 3.6% increase in hotel revenues in 2003. This increase in revenue should result in a 7.8% increase in profits for the average US hotel for the year.