NEW YORK CITY-Starwood Hotels & Resorts, a global owner/manager of hotel franchises, has disposed of one of its most visible Midtown assets. A joint venture of Rockpoint Group, Goldman Sachs’ Real Estate Principal Investment Area and Highgate Hotels have acquired the Manhattan at Times Square Hotel for $275 million in an all-cash transaction, according to a statement from the Stamford, CT-based company.

Simon Turner, president of global development at Starwood Hotels, says the sale was consistent with the company’s strategy of selling off non-core properties. “As we continue our transition to an asset-light model, we continue to look for opportunities to sell our owned hotels at attractive prices to best create value for our shareholders, and this sale of a non-strategic asset is consistent with that strategy,” Turner says, in a statement.

In 2010, Starwood removed the Sheraton flag from the Times Square property as part of the company’s ongoing commitment to the revitalization of the Sheraton brand in North America and began a "rigorous process" to evaluate all value-maximization options for the asset, Turner says. “With all nine of our brands already well-represented in New York City across approximately 9,000 rooms, we believe this sale presented the best value for our shareholders,” he adds.