Ashford Hospitality Scores $580M Refi for 16 Hotels

Ashford Hospitality Trust has snagged a $580 million loan to refinance 16 hotels in Florida and California, including one in Beverly Hills.

The Dallas-based real estate investment trust secured the loan backed by the hotels, including the 12-story, 260-room Beverly Hills Marriott at 1150 South Beverly Drive, Commercial Observer reported. Together the hotels have an $861 million value.

Bank of America and Sculptor Capital Management were the lenders behind the refinancing package.

The nonrecourse financing has a two-year term with three one-year extension options. The loans have a floating interest rate of SOFR plus 4.37 percent, according to the trust.

The previous four loans secured by the lodging had a combined outstanding loan balance of $439 million. The loans were set to mature in the first half of this year, according to an unidentified spokesperson for Ashford Hospitality.

Some $72 million of the excess proceeds from the new debt paid off the remaining balance on Ashford Hospitality’s strategic financing, including the exit fee, which was set to mature in January.

Remaining proceeds were used to fund transaction costs and reserves for future capital expenditures, according to CO.

The REIT also struck a forbearance agreement for a $410 million loan backed by 17 hotels, after it went to special serving in September, according to the Ashford representative and CoStar.

The newly refinanced California and Florida properties have the highest valuation of the Ashford portfolio, with the 242-room Hyatt Regency Coral Gales in Florida accounting for $168 million, behind the Beverly Hills Marriott’s $214 million.

Ashford’s Florida portfolio also includes Sea World in Orlando.

Ashford Hospitality Trust, founded by Monty Bennett in 1968, owns 68 hotels in 21 states, according to its website. It went public in 2003.

Ashford’s distress follows a blistering proxy battle last year that threatened to remove Bennett from the boards of Ashford Hospitality Trust and another one of his real estate firms, Braemar Hotels and Resorts.

— Dana Bartholomew