WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA-Pebblebrook Hotel Trust of Bethesda, MD has agreed to buy the 237-room Mondrian Hotel from New York City-based Morgans Hotel Group for $137 million, a price per room of $580,000 that approaches peak pricing of 2007-2008, according to one hotel industry consultant. Alan Reay, founder and president of Irvine, CA-based Atlas Hospitality Group, tells GlobeSt.com that the price of the pending sale "is probably close to what the hotel would have traded for back in the 2007/2008 peak." Reay calls the deal "one more example of the prices REITs are now paying for well-located hotels."

Morgans expects the Mondrian sale, which was a direct deal between buyer and seller, to close this quarter. The New York City-based company will continue to operate the hotel, which is at 8440 Sunset Blvd., under a 20-year management agreement with one 10-year extension option.

Pebblebrook said it will fund the Mondrian purchase with available cash. The acquisition will be at least the second on the Westside of Los Angeles in recent months for the REIT, which has also acquired a number of other hotels in the West. Among these, as reported by GlobeSt.com, have been the REIT's $110 million all-cash acquisition of the 450-room Westin Gaslamp hotel in San Diego; the $84 million purchase of the Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco; and the $103 million acquisition of the Sheraton Delfina Santa Monica Hotel in Santa Monica.