IRVINE, CA—Having closed 26 hotel sales in the fourth quarter of 2014 alone, Auction.com has made it official by rolling out a dedicated national hospitality division. Heading up the new platform is managing director Anthony Falor, who's spearheading the lodging team from the Irvine, CA-based online marketplace's Atlanta office.

“Hospitality is a truly unique subset of commercial real estate that attracts an incredibly diverse group of buyers, and Auction.com has attracted buyers from more than 100 countries worldwide, making it the ideal nexus for buyers and sellers to transact hotel properties,” says Falor. He adds that he has “personally used the Auction.com platform with tremendous success on the majority of my transactions over the past 24 months. I want to encourage more brokers to work with Auction.com as a partner, and utilize our platform as a way to enhance and grow their business.”

Among the 76 hotel properties sold via the Auction.com platform last year were full-service Holiday Inns, Marriott Courtyards, Hampton Inns and Suites, Country Inns by Carlson, Comfort Inns, Red Roof Inns, Best Westerns and Microtel Inns, among other brands. RLJ Lodging Trust, Westmont Hospitality, Peachtree Hotel Group, Liberty Group, Garrison and Linchris Hotel Corp. were among the sellers who traded properties via the platform.

“Our online auction platform has proven to be an extremely successful way to connect hotel buyers and sellers from across the country, and around the world,” says Monte Koch, Auction.com vice chairman and co-founder. “We've decided to focus resources on the hospitality sector, and have assembled a team of industry specialists to meet the unique needs of buyers, sellers and brokers in this segment.”

The new team, Koch adds, is comprised of hotel industry veterans “who are laser-focused on hospitality real estate and truly understand the opportunities, challenges and nuances of transacting hotel properties.”

Earlier this month, a lodging asset figured in the first-ever sale of a commercial property using Auction.com's iPad app. Himanshu Sarvaiya, VP of development with Kalthia Group Hotels, purchased the Quail Hollow Inn, a Best Western property in Benson, AZ, using the app for his successful $2.2-million bid.