Three Arkansas hotels in Rogers, Jonesboro and Johnson sell for combined $37.6 million

Texas-based hotel fund manager Phoenix American Hospitality (PHA) has acquired three Arkansas hotels for a combined $37.6 million.

PHA paid $15.4 million for the Aloft Hotel in Rogers, $11.8 million for the Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in Jonesboro and $10.4 million for the TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Johnson.

New York-based real estate investment firm Lightstone Group was the previous owner of all three properties.

The three hotels were part of PHA’s purchase of seven hotels in Arkansas, Louisiana and Florida for $109 million. All seven hotels were acquired through a joint venture with Aspect Investment Partners Ltd., a firm incorporated in the Cayman Islands.

“Each of these properties is a meaningful addition to our growing portfolio,” PHA President Perch Nelson said in a statement. “We anticipate a strong partnership and long-term success with each property”.

Aloft is a six-story, 130-room property on South 52nd Street. TownePlace Suites is a four-story, 92-room property on South 48^th Street. Fairfield Inn & Suites is a four-story, 83-room property on Acess Road. All three properties opened in 2008.

Combined, they have about 100 full-time employees. Kevin Kobishop, PHA’s executive vice president of hotel operations, said there are renovation projects of varying degrees slated for all three that will start later this year.

“This is a part of the country we were not in so we are excited to be in Arkansas,” Kobishop said. “Certainly with the business and leisure opportunities there, we thought it was a good fit for our company.”

Lightstone Group acquired the three hotels in a four-hotel deal in 2013 that included Towne Place Suites by Marriott in Little Rock for $30 million. Fort Smith holding company CSK Hotels was the seller.

Kobishop said the Arkansas properties have all received “significant” capital upgrades since they last changed hands in 2013. “All of the public space areas, as well as close to everything in the guest rooms were upgraded since the 2013 purchase,” he said.

So far this year PHA has acquired 13 hotels totaling 1,532 rooms in nine states.

“We anticipate another portfolio purchase by the end of the year that will be similar in size to the recent [$109 million] acquisition,” Kobiship said. “And then our intent is to double in size next year.”