Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Dallas-based Viking Hospitality Fund expanding into Rochester, Minnesota

By Pegasus News wire

DALLAS — Viking Hospitality Fund has announced the development of a new 124-room Hampton Inn and Suites in Rochester, Minnesota. The property is the second for Viking Hospitality Fund, which was formed in September 2007 by Dallas-based Prism Hotels & Resorts, Des Moines, Iowa-based SeaCys Holdings, LLC, and Atlanta-based Hotel Assets Group ("Hotel AG") as a joint venture to build new select -- and limited -- service hotel properties nationwide under the Hilton and Marriott brands.

Photo not provided by Viking Hospitality Fund

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The hotel will be located on 2.3 acres on the southeast corner of 59th Street and Bandel Road NW, near the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Once completed in mid-2009, it will be managed by Prism Hotels & Resorts. The new Hampton Inn & Suites will operate as a franchisee of Hampton Inns Franchise LLC, a member of the Hilton Hotels family of brands, and will appeal to business travelers and visitors of the nearby medical center.

"The Rochester Hampton Inn & Suites is the second hotel development we've closed on in the past month, which we are particularly excited about considering the challenging economic conditions our country is facing," said Al Whitehouse, senior vice president of acquisitions at Prism Hotels & Resorts. "We have several more Hilton and Marriott brand hotels planned for 2008 and 2009, so the outlook is bright."

Viking Hospitality Fund is actively seeking additional sites for development throughout the country and plan to construct as many as 30 new hotels nationwide over the next three years at a rate of 8-10 each year.

Source: Viking Hospitality Fund

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