Kimpton puts D.C. Hotel Palomar on horizon with acquisition

KHP Fund makes its first move

Aside from growing the Hotel Palomar brand, the purchase of the Radisson Barcelo Hotel marks the first acquisition by Kimpton Hospitality Partners (KHP Fund), a $157 million acquisition fund recently formed and managed by Kimpton to acquire, develop and redevelop boutique/lifestyle hotel properties. Kimpton intends to leverage the fund to ultimately acquire $450 million in hotel assets.

Acquisitions of existing hotels in desirable locations where an opportunity exists to reposition the property as a Kimpton hotel, is a strategy the KHP Fund will continue to pursue, said Mike Depatie, CEO of Kimpton Real Estate. The KHP Fund will also look to acquire existing boutique hotels that could benefit from a capital upgrade or Kimpton management. Well located urban buildings with a strong potential to be converted to Kimpton-style hotels will be considered for acquisition by the KHP Fund as well.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Kimpton Hotels added another Hotel Palomar to its portfolio with the acquisition of the 335-room Radisson Barcelo Hotel in Washington for an undisclosed sum.

Kimpton said it plans to invest $35 million to transform the property into the luxury Hotel Palomar, Washington D.C.

Kimpton said the hotels current 301-room configuration will be expanded to 335 rooms. Another 4,000 square feet of meetings space also will be added, bringing the total available meetings space to approximately 10,500 square feet. Plans also call for adding a signature chef-driven Kimpton restaurant.

When the Hotel Palomar debuts in 2006, it will be the seventh Kimpton property in the metropolitan D.C. area. It also will be the second addition to the Hotel Palomar sub-brand, which was recently launched by the lifestyle hotel chain.

The first Hotel Palomar open in San Francisco in 1999. The hotel concept, which boasts high-end residential design and sophisticated atmosphere, has been so popular that Kimpton decided to develop more of them, in much the same way it grew Hotel Monaco into a sub-brand of seven hotels across the U.S.

As Kimpton continues to grow, Hotel Palomar is a strong representation of the companys future, said Joe Long, Kimptons executive vice president of Acquisitions & Development. The high-end residential design and sophisticated atmosphere clearly resonates with both leisure and business travelers. We will continue to bring Kimptons signature stand-alone properties to the market as well as further develop the Hotel Monaco brand, but there is a definite niche for the Hotel Palomar in key urban and resort locations.

Kimpton previously announced that two other Hotel Palomar properties also are in the works: one in Dallas and the other in Arlington, Va., across the Key Bridge from Washingtons Georgetown neighborhood.

To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Michael Milligan at [email protected].

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