To help close the transaction, the company used $13.5 millionfrom its line of credit. MHI plans to rebrand the hotel and begin a$20 million capital improvement program with major physicalimprovements. The hotel, which is shuttered, will reopen afterrenovations are complete in the first quarter of 2009. "We hadlooked at this property in the past and, when it came back on themarket, we decided it was an attractive property to own, so we bidon it," MHI COO Dave Folsom tells GlobeSt.com.

Folsom adds that the property fit the company's strategiccriteria for acquisition, including that it is a full-service hotelin an attractive market. The hotel is situated on 3.82 acres inTampa's Westshore Corridor, the city's corporate, entertainment,restaurant and shopping district. It is located within five milesfrom downtown Tampa and within two miles of Tampa InternationalAirport. It is also in close proximity to local attractions, suchas Westshore Mall, Legends Field, Raymond James Stadium,International Plaza Mall and others. After the hotel reopens, itwill be called Crowne Plaza Tampa Westshore. "With its scale andamenities the property is an excellent fit," says MHI president andCEO Andrew Sims, in a prepared statement. "The acquisition alsoextends our footprint in the dynamic Florida market."

MHI also owns the 311-room Crowne Plaza Hollywood Beach Resortin Hollywood and the 292-room Crowne Plaza Jacksonville Riverfrontin Jacksonville. "We'd love to make more acquisitions in Florida,we just have to find the right properties," Folsom says.