"This is our fourth departure from flagship hotel companies inthe past 12 months. We're moving forward now to create the HeritageHotels and Resorts and that's our focus," says James Long,president and CEO of Heritage Hotels and Resorts Inc., the locallybased hospitality subsidiary for American Property Management inSan Diego. The agreement sets the stage for change at the 203-roomHilton Hotel Las Cruces at 705 S. Telshor Blvd. Previous changestook place on properties operated by Sheraton Hotels & Resorts,Wyndham International Inc. and Raddison Hotels & Resorts.

Long says the re-branding is a multimillion-dollar initiativefor the Las Cruces hotel as it was for the Lodge at Santa Fe andHotel Plaza Real, also in Santa Fe; Esplendor Resort in Rio Rico,AZ; and another local property, the Nativo Lodge.

Long and Michael Gallegos launched American Property Managementin 1989 to invest in real estate, but not to form an independenthotel chain. "We saw the opportunity in the marketplace during thepast couple of years and decided to take it," Long tellsGlobeSt.com about an initiative now in its 16th month.