HORSHAM, PA-In an effort to raise capital, Arlington, VA-based MeriStar Hospitality Corp. obtained a total of just under $85.2 million in permanent fixed-rate financing for two of its Hilton Hotel properties. The properties are Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort, a 10-acre, 425-room beachfront resort at 400 Mandalay Ave. in Clearwater Beach, FL; and Hilton Crystal City at Reagan National Airport, a 1.8-acre, 386-room urban hotel at 2399 Jefferson Davis Highway in Arlington, VA. Stephen McRae, vice president of locally based GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp., who is based in GMACCM's Atlanta loan origination office, arranged the funding. Without disclosing the interest rate, he tells GlobeSt.com, "the loans are for a 10-year term, locked in at historically low rates and aggressive spreads." The properties were owned without debt, so the funding provided MeriStar with an opportunity to raise capital.

The Clearwater Beach property was built in 1981, and Hilton Crystal City opened in 1985. Both have undergone recent renovations, McRae says.

This funding comes in the midst of MeriStar's ongoing "balance sheet strengthening strategy," recently announced by Donald D. Olinger, CFO, who cites this long-term fixed-rate debt a key component of the strategy. GMAC Institutional Advisors advised the lender, New York City-based AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. and Pete Dannemiller of Atlanta-based Hodges Ward Elliott, advised MeriStar.