The company expects to have nine hotels under way by the end of the year and in negotiations on another 15 to 20 sites. A Concord spokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com that the company currently manages or owns 51 hotels. Two of the nine hotels slated for construction are in the Phoenix area. As it has done in the past, the company will continue to develop hotels under the Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental brands. "The company is looking to expand internationally but is looking at US markets that are experiencing growth such as Phoenix," she says.

The announcement comes on the heels of the company's sale of a 19-hotel portfolio of Marriott-branded properties in eight states for $440 million. "We felt this was a good time to spin off these hotels to capture the appreciated value," says Concord Hospitality president and CEO Mark Laport, in a prepared statement. "The majority of our joint venture partners have indicated that they want to reinvest the proceeds, which gives us a significant war chest to develop and acquire hotels."

The hotels sold were the 105-room Courtyard Altoona in Altoona, PA; the 150-room Courtyard Columbus Airport and the 149-room Courtyard Columbus Downtown in Columbus, OH; the 182-room Courtyard Pittsburgh Downtown, the 132-room Courtyard Pittsburgh Shadyside, the 94-room Courtyard Pittsburgh Waterfront and the 102-room Springhill Suites Pittsburgh Airport in Pittsburgh; the 199-room Courtyard Waterbury in Waterbury, CT; the 90-room Courtyard Willoughby in Willoughby, OH; the 103-room Courtyard West Palm Beach Airport in West Palm Beach, FL; the 219-room Marriott West Des Moines, the 97-room Springhill Suites Des Moines and the 102-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Des Moines in West Des Moines, IA; the 163-room Renaissance Meadowlands in Rutherford, NJ; the 191-room Springhill Suites Houston in Houston; the 86-room Springhill Suites Washington in Washington, PA; the 78-room Residence Inn Midtown in Atlanta; the 141-room Fairfield Inn Meadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ; and the 75-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Butler in Butler, PA.

The buyer was Houston-based Moody National Cos., which also agreed to buy an additional hotel in a separate transaction that is expected to close by the end of September. Concord will continue to manage the properties under a long-term agreement and will oversee $16 million in renovations across the portfolio planned by the buyer. Hodges Ward Elliott represented Concord in the transaction.