City's Beekman and Eastgate hotels sold to real estate fund.

Anglo Irish Bank announced the financing and acquisition of the Beekman Tower Hotel and Eastgate Tower Hotel, two prime properties located in Midtown Manhattan.

The properties were acquired on behalf of the Peninsula Real Estate Fund I, LP (Peninsula), an equity fund created by Anglo Irish Bank Private Banking and Timothy Haskin for Irish investors seeking commercial real estate investments in the United States.

Anglo Irish Bank provided approximately $100 million in acquisition financing and their Dublin-based Private Bank provided $49 million in equity. The hotels were purchased from the Denihan Ownership Company, a family-owned hotel ownership and management company. Haskin, the operating partner of Peninsula, will manage the renovations of both properties over the next 18 to 24 months. Haskin has over 28 years of experience in real estate transactions, focused mostly on acquiring and repositioning major real estate properties. Haskin was most recently a partner, executive vice president and managing director at Tishman Hotel Corporation, where he worked for more than 12 years.

Tony Campbell, president and chief executive officer of Anglo Irish Bank's North America operations said, "New York City continues to provide strong growth prospects and good long-term value in real estate, being a destination of choice for international capital. The repositioning of these assets provides further opportunity for capital appreciation."

"This fund provides our Irish investors with an attractive investment opportunity to participate in the value created by renovating and repositioning these major hotel assets in Manhattan," said Peter Butler, managing director, Anglo Irish Bank Private Banking.

"We are very excited to acquire these two prominent and extremely well-located New York hotel assets," said Haskin. "We are confident in the continued strength of the New York lodging market and success of these properties."

The Beekman Tower, built in 1928, is an art deco-style landmark hotel consisting of 172 rooms located at 3 Mitchell Place. Built in 1971, the Eastgate Tower Hotel is located at 222 East 39th Street and consists of 187 rooms. Both hotels are in close proximity to Grand Central Station and various Midtown Manhattan corporate offices.

Anglo Irish Bank is Ireland's third largest bank and the fourth largest company listed on the Irish Stock Exchange.

Sonnenblick Goldman, served as advisor to Denihan Ownership Company, formerly known as Affinia Hospitality. "Given the strong market fundaments, including high barriers to entry, exceptional performance and limited new supply, New York continues to be the most desirable hotel market in the world. The Hotel's were marketed on an international basis and received considerable interest. We are pleased to have been able to structure this transaction with Peninsula Real Estate Fund," commented Mark Gordon, principal and managing director of Sonnenblick Goldman and head of its International Lodging Group."

"The hotel's ideal locations, oversized room products, and retail spaces make these truly unique Manhattan properties. Additionally, ownership's ability to offer management flexibility resulted in a very competitive marketing process" stated Mark Owens, a vice president in Sonnenblick Goldman's International Lodging Group.