At the same time, the locally based firm says W. Thomas Parrington, a Lodgian director and former CEO of Washington, DC-based Interstate Hotels Co., is the interim CEO, taking over from David E. Hawthorne who has resigned to pursue other business interests.

"My role was to restructure the company's finances and operations," Hawthorne says in a statement. "We have successfully completed that process, and the company has the plan and people in place to effectively move forward." Hawthorne is also resigning as a company director.

Lodgian emerged from Chapter 11 with 78 hotels on Nov. 25, 2002. The 18 hotels are owned by Lodgian subsidiaries Impac Hotels II LLC and Impac Hotels III LLC. When the two subsidiaries filed for protection under the United States Bankruptcy Code on Dec. 5, 2001, Lodgian listed assets of $1 million and debt of $968.7 million.