WestCoast Buys Red Lion Bellevue for $12M

BELLEVUE, WA-WestCoast Hospitality Corp. has completed its acquisition of the Red Lion Bellevue Inn, which it had been leasing with an option to buy since January. The Spokane, WA-based hotel company has exercised its option, paying $12 million for the 181-room property, according to SEC documents.There will be no changes in the operation or name of the hotel as a result of the acquisition. The Red Lion Bellevue Inn is located at 11211 Main St. in Bellevue and is visible from Interstate 405. Bellevue is located nine miles east of Seattle, across Lake Washington. The acquisition of the property follows WestCoast’s “hub and spoke” strategy of securing hotel properties in tier one cities, then adding hotels in surrounding feeder markets. A small portion of the acquisition price was paid for with proceeds from the fourth quarter sale of the 245-room Red Lion River Inn, which provided a pre-tax gain of $7 million. The bulk of the gain was used to acquire the 172-room Red Lion Hotel Yakima Gateway for $6.3 million in a 1031 exchange. The remainder was used to fulfill part of the purchase price for the Bellevue property.