Maritz, Wolff & Co., a St. Louis-based hotel investmentconcern, has paid $105 million for the 400-room hotel and the FourSeasons Place apartment tower, which has 114 residences. Maritzofficials say they will continue to operate the property as a FourSeasons hotel and apartment tower although it is possible theapartments could be converted into condominiums at a laterdate.

The hotel and apartments are on the eastern portion of Downtown,which had been a patchy, urban frontier for the city center whenthe hotel was built in 1982. Now the area is fast becoming aHouston hot spot. The city's new baseball stadium, Enron Field, isa few blocks away. The new NBA basketball arena, which was approvedby local voters Tuesday, will be nearby. The George R. BrownConvention Center also is within easy walking distance.

Downtown's office buildings are brimming with tenants, bringingmore business travelers to the submarket. As a result, occupancyrates at Downtown hotels are much stronger than in the past.According to PKF Consulting, Downtown hotel occupancy had stood at63% five years ago in comparison to 72.2% for the first nine monthsof this year.