RLJ's strategy is to acquire and develop upscale service hotelswith premium brands in urban markets or dense suburban areas nearmajor cities. Last year, for example, for its Fund II it acquiredthe New York LaGuardia Airport Marriott for $69 million fromLaSalle Hotel Properties. RLJ closed Fund II in September 2006 with$743 million of commitments, giving it a total purchasing power ofnearly $2.5 billion. Major public and corporate pension funds,financial institutions and a hospitality entity--numbering15 institutionalinvestors all together--participated in that fund.

RLJ shows every sign of repeated its tried-and-true formula withFund III with one notable addition: according to the company it isexpanding its strategy to include mixed-use investments in targetmarkets. Fund III brings the total equity under management at RLJto $2.2 billion, according to Robert Johnson, chairman and CEO ofRLJ. "We are proud to close our third fund and delighted with theoverwhelming response from the institutional investment community,"Johnson, who is also founder of BET and owner of the NBA CharlotteBobcats, says. "I particularly want to thank Jeffery Immelt,chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., for making GE, throughits General Electric Pension Trust and General Electric Real EstateEquities Inc., one of our foundation investors."