The acquisition was the second in two weeks for Noble and the third since the beginning of this year. Just last week, the hospitality investor acquired the 369-room Westin Atlanta North at Perimeter for $61.5 million from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. In January, the company bought the 460-room Westin Long Beach in California from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. for $88.4 million.
"We like to think we're in an acquisition phase," Benjamin Brunt, vice president of investments for Noble, tells GlobeSt.com. He adds that the company will close on another hotel in June and is presently negotiating several other purchase contracts.
The firm's latest acquisition, the renamed Sheraton New Orleans, was Noble's first in the New Orleans market. The deal almost fell through, however, when Hurricane Katrina struck just weeks after the company inked a contract with locally based seller Metairie Hotel Investors Limited Partnership, Brunt says. The storm caused more than $3 million in damage to the building, most of which should be repaired by the end of this year.
"We actually think we have a better asset now," Brunt says. But it wasn't just the recently renovated interior that swayed Noble into adding the remodeled property to its portfolio. High visibility, a chance to re-brand an underperforming asset and a prime location near Interstate 10 and Causeway Boulevard in Metairie near the New Orleans' airport, helped drive the deal, he says. Combined with a loss of about 10,000 hotel rooms due to last summer's hurricanes, the property, Brunt says, will prove to be a strong buy.
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