Pair of SoCal Hotels Trade for $80M

R.D. Olson Development has sold two hotels in Southern California to Apple REIT 8 for a combined $80 million. R.D. Olson purchased the hotel sites, Marriott Residence Inns located in Burbank and Oceanside, in 2005 and 2006, respectively, and completed development last year. Since their opening, they have experience consistently high occupancy rates. The five-story Burbank property has 166 suites, while the Oceanside property has 150 suites. R.D. Olson currently is developing seven other projects, mainly in Southern California, an area considered a very attractive market for hotel development because of its myriad tourism interests.The $2.5 billion JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles is expected to open in 2010 to serve as a base for tourism and will have ample room for meetings and conventions, which has been a problem in the area. In neighboring Anaheim, city planners are seeking to increase the capacity of its convention center by adding a hotel and approximately 200,000 square feet of meeting space. R.D. Olson is an Irvine, CA-based construction firm which has worked extensively in hotels in Southern California. The company recently announced plans to build three hotels in the vicinity of Legacy Park in the city of Tustin. In addition to its work in resorts and hotels, the firm built an eight-story student housing building at the University of California-Riverside. Apple REIT Six is a public real estate investment trust which currently operates nearly 70 hotels in 17 states. The trust recently acquired a Hampton Inn & Suites in Westfield, Mass., for $15.25 million.