Developed by the City of Houston, the hotel at 1600 Lamar St. isowned by the Houston Convention Center Hotel Corp., which wascharged with stabilizing it. Occupancy at the 2007 close was 64.2%,with its average daily room rate at $147.

"The property is blowing the doors off what was estimated and isdoing tremendously well," says Mary Carolan, senior vice presidentwith CB Richard Ellis in Houston. She is leading the team that'smarketing the 24-story hotel, which sits on nearly three acresacross the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center."There are no other 1,203-room hotels in Houston," Carolan pointsout, adding it's also benefiting from convention center advancebookings. "There is no competition for this one."

There is, however, room for growth. "The property is clearlystabilized. I think a property under five years old and with thedemand generator of the convention center has room for growth,"Carolan tells GlobeSt.com. "Private capital will help that along."She says the source of that private capital could come from almostanywhere, either the US or an offshore fund. She explains theHilton Americas meets many of the underpinning requirements foroffshore capital: it's relatively new, has stability because it'snear the convention center and is situated in a pedestrian-friendlylocation.