PHILADELPHIA-The Laurus Corp. has acquired the Hilton Garden Inn in Fort Washington just north of the city.

The 146-room hotel has an indoor swimming pool, a business center, laundry facility, signature restaurant and bar and three meeting facilities totaling 3,350 square feet. 

It is situated next to the 6-million-square-foot Fort Washington Office Park, which has more than 100 companies as tenants. GMAC/Ally, URS Corp., Honeywell, Verizon, FedEx and Johnson & Johnson are all tenants in the park.

The surrounding area is home to about 20 Fortune 500 companies, including AmerisourceBergen, Comcast, Aramark and Sunoco. The hotel offers convenient access to the Interstate and SEPTA regional train station, which provides transportation to the entire Philadelphia region.

Austin Khan, Laurus's CIO said the purchase was made on behalf of the company's Ethika fund. It represented “a distinct opportunity to acquire an institutional quality asset in one of the nation's premier business parks at a significant discount to replacement cost,” Khan said. 

Jean Paul Szita, Laurus's president said the company will invest $1.9 million in property improvements and that it has hired an independent company to manage the property.

The hotel is close to Philadelphia International Airport and several new developments in the area, including Valley Forge Casino Resort and King of Prussia Mall.

In 2010, Hilton Garden Inn received the “Highest Guest Satisfaction Among Mid-Scale Hotel Chains with Full Service” award in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study.