The properties include the 118-room Langhorne Courtyard at Five N. Cabot Blvd. in Langhorne, a Philadelphia suburb; the 103-key Fairfield Inn & Suites at 2140 Motel Dr. in Bethlehem; and the 118-key Fairfield Inn & Suites at 350 Century Parkway in Mt. Laurel, NJ. Jay H. Shah, Hersha's CEO, says the properties are two, six and five years old, respectively. "We believe that these hotels will provide the company with an increased share of the available rooms in Philadelphia, a city with continued robust economic activity."

The acquisition was financed with cash on hand and from mortgages with a principal amount of $29.2 million at a fixed interest rate of 5.75%. The purchase is subject to a post-closing earn out adjustment on June 30, 2007, which is not expected to increase the aggregate purchase price by more than $2.5 million.

Hersha also received approximately $35.5 million in repayments on four of its five development loans, which were made to companies developing properties that Hersha either has acquired or may acquire, separately or in joint venture. The company often provides loan financing to developers.

"Our development loan financing program provides…an attractive return on investment and a proprietary pipeline to new assets in some of the highest barrier to entry markets in the country with a first right of refusal to purchase the finished asset," Shah says. Repayment of the loans provides "additional financial capacity to continue expanding the company's portfolio of hotels in the Northeast corridor."

The loan repayments are from developers of the 196-room Hilton Garden Inn JFK Airport in Jamaica, NY, which opened in February 2005; the 136-room Homewood Suites in Glastonbury, CT; the 45-room Loft Hotel Tribeca at 130 Duane St. in Manhattan, which is now under construction; and another boutique hotel at 45 Fifth Ave. at 35th Street, also in Manhattan. The latter, Shah tells GlobeSt.com, "is a redevelopment property. It is not yet named and will contain approximately 60 rooms." Currently, Hersha owns interests in 50 hotel properties with 5,852 rooms. They are located primarily from Metropolitan Boston to Washington, DC.