PLANNING APPLICATION LODGED FOR €50 MILLION BALLINASLOE TOWN CENTRE SCHEME

A planning application has been lodged with Galway County Council for an ambitious €50 million retail development in the heart of Ballinasloe. The 10,850 sq. m. scheme includes plans for a 6,410 sq. m. anchor store with 26 retail units comprising 3,845 sq. m. of retail space.

The development is planned for a 2.65 hectare site located just off Main Street with access via River View. The development is set to become a natural extension of Main Street and will provide some much needed car parking in the centre of the town with the provision of over 300 new surface car spaces.

Ballinasloe is a busy market town and host to Europe’s largest Horse Fair each October but has struggled to keep pace with some of the neighbouring urban centres. The magnetic pull of the larger towns and cities in the region such as Athlone and Galway has resulted in an extensive leakage in expenditure from Ballinasloe to its larger urban neighbours and which is largely due to the undersupply of quality retailers in Ballinasloe. With a strong tradition in manufacturing, the local economy has struggled in recent years but the future now seems much brighter for the town and its population.

Evidence of much needed investment in the town is evident particularly with a the development of a marina providing berthing for leisure craft cruising the River Suck and River Shannon and most notably the development of the stunning Four Star Shearwater Plaza Hotel and Leisure Centre, part of the Carlton Group of hotels. The proposed addition of a major district shopping centre will copper-fasten the great strides forward the town is now making and will also provide a major boost to the local economy with the creation of up to 400 jobs during the construction phase and as many as 250 full and part-time positions when the shopping centre open for trade.

The proposed development will be a joint venture between Cork based Development Company Harte Holdings and Clancy Construction.

Harte Holdings specialise in project management and investment services and have developed strong links with their construction partners in the commercial, retail, residential, industrial and hotel and leisure sectors.

Clancy Construction is one of the leading construction companies in Ireland. Based in Tipperary, they have developed large scale construction projects nationwide across all sectors including Dungarvan Shopping Centre, Thurles Shopping Centre, Johnstown Shopping Centre in Navan and The Ballykisteen Hotel and Golf Resort Co. Tipperary.

Agents for the scheme, Bannon, are currently in discussions with a number of potential anchor tenants and are confident the scheme will bring a much needed boost to the town of Ballinasloe.

For further information contact Bannon at +353 1 6477900

Castle Gardens - one of the most exclusive tax-incentive developments to come on the market

Set on a privately owned 810acre island in the River Suir, a mile from Waterford city is the grand and exclusive hotel Waterford Castle.

To date the castle has provided accommodation in its 14 bedrooms and 5 suites.

Now the island's owners Newgold Ltd and Cendant Ltd have joined forces with Harte Holdings to develop the exclusive Castle Gardens; 48 Holiday Homes in stunning turnkey condition.




















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PRESS RELEASE

Interstate Hotels & Resorts Forms Joint Venture with Harte Holdings of Ireland, Signs Agreement to Acquire Four-hotel Portfolio from Blackstone for $208 Million
ARLINGTON, Va., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --


Interstate Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: IHR), a leading hotel real estate investor and one of the nation's largest independent operators of full and select-service hotels, today announced that it had formed a joint venture with Harte Holdings of Cork, Ireland. The joint venture signed a definitive agreement to acquire four hotels from affiliates of The Blackstone Group for an aggregate price of $207.8 million. Interstate will invest approximately $11 million for a 20 percent equity interest in the four hotels. Interstate will fund the acquisition with available cash and capacity under its senior revolving credit facility. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.

Click here to download our information sheet (blackstone_portfolio 1Mb)

Click here to view related press article

The four properties included in the joint venture acquisition are:

Sheraton Frazer Great Valley - 198 Rooms - Frazer, PA (Phila MSA)
Sheraton Mahwah - 225 Rooms - Mahwah, NJ
Latham Hotel Georgetown - 142 Rooms - Washington, DC
Hilton Lafayette - 327 Rooms - Lafayette, LA
Total: 892


Interstate currently manages three of the properties and previously managed the Latham Hotel for the Blackstone Group and MeriStar Hospitality. Upon closing, Interstate will manage all four hotels under new management agreements.
The partnership plans to invest more than $30 million of additional funds for renovations on the hotels over the 24 months following the acquisition, with Interstate's contribution expected to be approximately $2 million.

"This joint venture represents a continuation of our hotel real estate ownership strategy and expands our JV partner universe," said Thomas F. Hewitt, Interstate's chief executive officer. "The four-hotel portfolio was attractively priced, at or below replacement costs, and aligns well with our portfolio of wholly owned and JV real estate holdings.
"The hotel package includes two key upscale, full-service brands, Hilton and Sheraton, and a well-recognized independent boutique hotel in Georgetown that offers significant repositioning opportunity," Hewitt added. "Three of the properties are located in key urban and major suburban markets with strong barriers to entry-Washington, D.C., northern New Jersey, and the Philadelphia area. The fourth property, the Hilton in Lafayette, La., is having an exceptional year with RevPAR growth in excess of 20 percent, and we expect the hotel to provide strong, stable cash flow going forward. With the anticipated capital investment, this entire portfolio has considerable upside operating potential."

"As one of the few management/ownership companies with a strong and growing international presence, we will continue to seek global opportunities and relationships," said Leslie Ng, Interstate's chief investment officer. "Harte Holdings is a highly regarded Irish investment and development company which owns a wide variety of real estate projects in the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe, and we look forward to exploring other opportunities together, both domestically and abroad."

"This is our first hotel joint venture in the U.S., and Interstate, with its successful track record, its management expertise, and the advantages afforded by its size, represents a very strong partner," said Donal Kelleher, investment director of Harte Holdings. "We look forward to expanding our relationship with other similar opportunities."


About Harte Holdings

Harte Holdings is an Irish-based investment and development company which owns a wide variety of real estate projects in the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe, with a portfolio consisting primarily of hotels, residential, commercial and retail assets in these areas.


About Interstate

As of November 30, 2007, Interstate Hotels & Resorts owned seven hotels and had a minority ownership interest through separate joint ventures in 22 hotels and resorts. Together with these properties, the company and its affiliates manages a total of 192 hospitality properties with more than 43,000 rooms in 36 states, the District of Columbia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Mexico and Russia. Interstate Hotels & Resorts also has contracts to manage 15 hospitality properties with approximately 4,400 rooms currently under construction. For more information about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, visit the company's website: http://www.ihrco.com/.


This press release contains "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, about Interstate Hotels & Resorts, including those statements regarding future operating results and the timing and composition of revenues, among others, and statements containing words such as "expects," "believes" or "will," which indicate that those statements are forward-looking. Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially, including the volatility of the national economy, economic conditions generally and the hotel and real estate markets specifically, the war in Iraq, international and geopolitical difficulties or health concerns, governmental actions, legislative and regulatory changes, availability of debt and equity capital, interest rates, competition, weather conditions or natural disasters, supply and demand for lodging facilities in our current and proposed market areas, and the company's ability to manage integration and growth. Additional risks are discussed in Interstate Hotels & Resorts' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Interstate Hotels & Resorts' annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006.
Contact: Carrie McIntyre SVP, Treasurer (703) 387-3320