BETHESDA, MD-DiamondRock Hospitality, aREIT that has shown it can recycle capital in thiseconomic cycle with the best of them, is now reapingthe fruit of its past sales. It has entered into an agreement witha Blackstone affiliate to purchase a four-assethotel portfolio for $495 million, or $339,000 per key. The hotelsare the Hilton Boston; the Westin Washington DC; the Westin SanDiego; and the Hilton Burlington.

As part of this off-market deal, Blackstone is taking a$75-million stake in the REIT, according to MarkBrugger, CEO of DiamondRock. The driver of the deal,however, was not necessarily just a desire to acquire these fourassets, although as he notes, the four properties have higherRevPAR and EBITDA margins than the average property inDiamondRock’s existing portfolio. “They wanted to make a strategicinvestment in DiamondRock and we wanted to build on ourrelationship with them, so we tried to find a mutually beneficialtransaction that would accomplish that,” he tells GlobeSt.com.

In short, more deals between the two firms could occur. “Theyare one of the largest owners of hotel real estate in the world,”Brugger says. “We look forward to leveraging the relationship fornew opportunities.”