Inland American Buys Alexandria’s Lorien Hotel & Spa for $45M

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Inland American Real Estate Trust Inc. announced the acquisition of its 10th hotel property in 2013. Through its subsidiary Inland American Lodging Group Inc., the company purchased the Lorien Hotel & Spa in Alexandria, Va. It paid approximately $45 million for the property.

The Lorien Hotel & Spa was developed by the DSF Group, in partnership with Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants and world-famous interior designer Vicente Wolf, and opened in August 2009. It is located at 1600 King St., in the heart of Old Town Alexandria, just two blocks from the Kings Street Metro.

The luxury boutique hotel features 107 guestrooms and 6,500 square feet of flexible meeting space. It also offers a full-service spa and fitness center, awarded Best Massage 2012 by Northern Virginia magazine, as well as three culinary venues by award-winning local D.C. chef Robert Wiedmaier. On its website, the hotel is called ”the crown jewel of Kimpton’s Washington, D.C., hotel collection.” It has won several awards, such as the 2013 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Award.

“Recently recognized by Condé Nast Traveler as one of the ‘Top 100 Hotels in the World,’ this boutique luxury hotel is an excellent addition to our portfolio,” Marcel Verbaas, president & CEO of Inland American Lodging Advisor Inc. (IALA), said in a statement for the press. “With its superior positioning in this high barrier-to-entry market, this asset provides the opportunity to achieve premium RevPAR growth.” Philip Wade, IALA’s senior vice president of investments, added that Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants will continue to manage the hotel.

According to Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, hotel sales in the Mid-Atlantic region were robust in the first half of 2013, with assets in the Washington, D.C., metro area collecting considerable interest when listed for sale and accounting for the greatest percentage of transactions.