Howard L. Michaels, chairman of Carlton Advisory Services, announced the partnership Wednesday, July 12. Cardel Hotels will be the asset and joint venture manager. Driftwood Hospitality will manage all of the properties acquired or developed by the fund.

Two transactions have already closed. In the first deal, Cardel used $22 million of equity to recapitalize its 123-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Miami and the 250-room Crowne Plaza in Sawgrass. The second transaction was the acquisition of three Bradford Homesuites totaling about 400 rooms in Houston, North Dallas Addison and the Denver Tech Center. Michaels says all three properties will be totally renovated and repositioned as either a Hyatt Summerfield Suites or Staybridge Suites.

Michaels says the joint venture plans to invest $100 million in equity by year's end with the initial two transactions representing about 30% of that investment. In a prepared statement, Rodriguez says his company is "aggressively expanding throughout the US and we anticipated this aggressive growth trend to continue."

Carlton Hospitality Group executives John Bralower, Brendan P. Sullivan, Stephen Scorgie and Will Lee arranged and structured the fund's partnership.