Hilton Garden Inn Could Change Hands Early in 2001

WASHINGTON, DC-The Hilton Garden Inn at Franklin Square, a limited service hotel that opened here in February 2000, should have new owners early in 2001. Ocean Properties Ltd. plans to purchase the 300-room hotel at 815 14th St. for $48 million, according to Bill Moyer, director of the hotel advisory group at Donohoe Real Estate Properties.

Bob Garcia, Ocean Properties’ comptroller, would not confirm the sale, noting only that the project is still under review. The firm, part of a 40-year-old hotel operating and development firm, is one of the five largest hotel companies in the US. Based in Portsmouth, NH and Delray Beach, FL, it manages more than 80 properties in North America ranging from independent luxury signature brands to limited service brands. The Hilton Garden will be its first Washington, DC-based property.

“The Hilton Garden Inn is a new hotel,” Moyer says. “It opened in February of this year. Meristar had taken on the management prior to opening. They set the stage of the opening. They did a wonderful job of staffing, prebooking and preadvertising. It’s taken off ever since.”