NEW HYDE PARK, NY-After selling off 23 assets over the last 12 months, Long Island-based retail REIT Kimco Realty Corp. is continuing to dispose of its non-core properties. The company is now selling the InTown Suites company and related real estate assets for a gross sales price of $735 million, including $617 million of existing debt to a subsidiary of Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund IX, an affiliate of Greenwich, CT-based Starwood Capital Group. The transaction is expected to be completed by the first half of 2013, according to a company statement.

InTown Suites -- comprised of 138 extended stay properties with approximately 18,000 rooms across 21 states -- is owned by InTown Hospitality Investors LP, a joint venture in which Kimco holds a 75% interest. The portfolio is predominatly located in the Southeast and Southwest, with concentrations in Texas, Georgia and Florida.

According to Kimco, the sale is contingent upon Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund IX’s satisfactorily completing its due diligence process and other closing conditions, including lender approvals. If the transaction is completed, Kimco has agreed to maintain $147.5 million in preexisting guarantees of outstanding debt to be assumed by Starwood Distressed Opportunity Fund IX.