The company expects to have nine hotels under way by the end ofthe year and in negotiations on another 15 to 20 sites. A Concordspokeswoman tells GlobeSt.com that the company currently manages orowns 51 hotels. Two of the nine hotels slated for construction arein the Phoenix area. As it has done in the past, the company willcontinue to develop hotels under the Marriott, Hilton, Starwood andIntercontinental brands. "The company is looking to expandinternationally but is looking at US markets that are experiencinggrowth such as Phoenix," she says.

The announcement comes on the heels of the company's sale of a 19-hotelportfolio of Marriott-branded properties in eight statesfor $440 million. "We felt this was a good time to spin off thesehotels to capture the appreciated value," says Concord Hospitalitypresident and CEO Mark Laport, in a prepared statement. "Themajority of our joint venture partners have indicated that theywant to reinvest the proceeds, which gives us a significant warchest to develop and acquire hotels."

The hotels sold were the 105-room Courtyard Altoona in Altoona,PA; the 150-room Courtyard Columbus Airport and the 149-roomCourtyard Columbus Downtown in Columbus, OH; the 182-room CourtyardPittsburgh Downtown, the 132-room Courtyard Pittsburgh Shadyside,the 94-room Courtyard Pittsburgh Waterfront and the 102-roomSpringhill Suites Pittsburgh Airport in Pittsburgh; the 199-roomCourtyard Waterbury in Waterbury, CT; the 90-room CourtyardWilloughby in Willoughby, OH; the 103-room Courtyard West PalmBeach Airport in West Palm Beach, FL; the 219-room Marriott WestDes Moines, the 97-room Springhill Suites Des Moines and the102-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Des Moines in West Des Moines,IA; the 163-room Renaissance Meadowlands in Rutherford, NJ; the191-room Springhill Suites Houston in Houston; the 86-roomSpringhill Suites Washington in Washington, PA; the 78-roomResidence Inn Midtown in Atlanta; the 141-room Fairfield InnMeadowlands in East Rutherford, NJ; and the 75-room Fairfield Inn& Suites Butler in Butler, PA.