Bet founder Bob Johnson lands new properties: RLJ Urban Lodging Funds forges a sought after ownership model.No one understands the importance of ownership more than the managers of RLJ RLJ Regiment Limburgse Jagers (Dutch Army Regiment) RLJ Russian Language Journal RLJ Radio Limonadovy Joe (Czech Internet radio) RLJ Russian Livejournal Community (website) Urban Lodging Funds. Since its formation in 2004, the private equity fund has aggressively acquired 17 hotels from California to Massachusetts and expected to close on three more properties by the end of 2005. Chaired by Black Entertainment Television founder Robert L. Johnson Robert L. Johnson (born April 8, 1946) is an American businessman and the founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), and was its chairman and chief executive officer. and backed by a diverse group of investors, RLJ Funds has become one of the top black equity funds with $600 million in assets and $900 million in purchasing power Purchasing Power 1. The value of a currency expressed in terms of the amount of goods or services that one unit of money can buy. Purchasing power is important because, all else being equal, inflation decreases the amount of goods or services you'd be able to purchase. 2. . "RLJ's African American African American Multiculture A person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa. See Race. ownership model to create, find, and acquire hotels is one that is envied," says Andy Ingraham, president of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers. "R.L.J created a fund that's unique in that this is the first time African Americans did it and were successful." In recent months, the Bethesda, Maryland-based fund, which focuses on Hilton and Marriott properties, has acquired two residence Inn by Marriott Residence Inn by Marriott is a brand of extended stay hotels. The chain was launched in 1977 in Wichita, Kansas by Jack DeBoer, and acquired by Marriott International in 1987. As of April 2005, there were over 450 Residence Inn hotels in the United States, Canada and Mexico. hotels, one in Cambridge, Massachusetts This article is about the city of Cambridge in Massachusetts. For the English university town, see Cambridge, England. For other places, see Cambridge (disambiguation). Cambridge, Massachusetts is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. , and the other in Poughkeepsie, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . "With RLJ you have had an explosion. They've set a new trend of African American ownership and now you have other companies saying, 'We want to own,'" Ingraham says. "Because of the success of the Urban Lodging Fund, you will see additional funds created by African Americans." Brian Parker, vice president of emerging markets and new business development at Choice Hotels, says RLJ Funds brings instant credibility to hotel ownership as an entrepreneurial venture for blacks. Less than 1% of the hotels in the U.S. are, owned by African Americans. "Many entrepreneurs can visualize themselves owning hotels; but not everyone has access to the capital. You have to look at RLJ's model and then adapt it to your own financial capabilities." RLJ Funds is an affiliate of RLJ Development L.L.C., which is ranked No. 40 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100 list with $92.2 million in sales. President Thomas J. Baltimore Jr. says that while the company is focused on raising and adding funds, it eventually hopes to expand product lines by purchasing offices and multifamily properties. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion