Paramount Hotel, a New Jersey-based independent hotel management and ownership company, expects to add 10 to 12 hotels to its management portfolio in 2013.
The company announced its expansion initiative with the addition of three management deals.
According to the company, the expansion is being fuelled by relationships with a group of hotel real estate partners who seek to acquire hotels.
One of these real estate partners is Lightstone Value Plus Real Estate Investment Trust, a non-traded REIT, which recently acquired three hotels – SpringHill Suites by Marriott and Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott in West Des Moines, Iowa, and Courtyard by Marriott in Cleveland, Ohio.
Paramount president Ethan Kramer said the company expects to work closely with Lightstone to help it achieve its growth targets for 2013.
"Our 30-plus years of hotel experience are a huge benefit for investors in sourcing and analysing hotel investment opportunities, some of which have hard-to-identify, unique attributes," said Kramer.
"These properties have intangibles that go beyond repositioning and strong management, often in markets that are overlooked."
Paramount and its investors are looking for full-service and select-service hotels in secondary and suburban markets, which can be turned into premium branded hotels.
Kramer said that several hotels currently on the US market have significant process industry practices (PIP) requirements as upgrades were pushed back beyond the regular cycle due to the recent economic downturn.
However, such properties also create both a dilemma and an opportunity.
"Renovations can be costly and disruptive in the short-term which make these investments appear to be unattractive, but they also provide the opportunity to reposition and rebrand and become market leaders," said Kramer.
"With strategic investment, smart positioning and strong management, those hotels can generate superior returns," he added.
Paramount is currently working with Hospitality CPM, a renovation management company, to understand the costs and opportunities of renovation and repositioning.
