Clark Hanrattie Joins HEI as Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer; Company Plans to Increase Hotel Investments to More Than $1 Billion.

Business Editors/Real Estate Writers

NORWALK, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 16, 2004

HEI Hospitality, a rapidly growing hotel ownership and operating company, today announced that Clark W. Hanrattie, a veteran in hotel investments, will join the company as senior vice president and chief investment officer. In his new position, he will be responsible for sourcing and negotiating new investment opportunities, as well as supporting the company in the areas of asset management, capital markets and investor relations. In addition, he will become a substantial investor and owner in HEI and will sit on the firm's Investment Committee.

"We continue to have an aggressive appetite for growth through acquisitions, and Clark will play a key role in our expansion plans," said Gary Mendell, chairman and CEO of HEI Hospitality. "His proven track record in single asset and large portfolio acquisitions brings valuable experience to our team. He also provides us with depth in the areas of capital markets and investor relations, which will be used to support our growth and investment plan."

"Gary has assembled a first-rate management team that I believe perfectly positions the company to capitalize on the next lodging cycle," said Clark Hanrattie. "Further, I am convinced that a sector-specific acquisition strategy utilizing the HEI owner/operator investment model will yield superior returns for our investors."

Prior to joining HEI, Hanrattie was a partner with Olympus Real Estate Partners, a privately held real estate investment firm, which over the past decade acquired assets valued at more than $5 billion through three separate discretionary funds totaling nearly $1.7 billion in equity capital. He joined Olympus in 1994 as an associate and was promoted over the years to positions of increasing scope and responsibility, culminating in becoming a partner and Investment Committee member in 2000. For the past five years, he was responsible for the firm's hotel investment and asset management activities.

During his tenure with Olympus, Clark played a key role in or led the acquisition of 63 hotels and resorts covering approximately $1.35 billion in transaction value, which included such assets as The Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, The Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan, The Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston, Marriott Ventura Beach in California and Westin Stamford, Conn. Previously, he was with Dallas-based The Montford Companies, a privately held real estate organization. He holds a B.S. degree in economics with a concentration in real estate finance from Texas A&M University.

"We have a very active pipeline and have seen a growing number of attractive investment opportunities within the past three months," Mendell added. "We now have the acquisition and management infrastructure in place to execute our growth plan." HEI's target acquisition profile includes single-asset or portfolios of first-class, full-service hotels with 200 to 500 rooms located in the continental United States.

HEI Hospitality, headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., is an ownership/investment and hotel management group that owns and manages 13 first-class and full-service hotels throughout the United States with annual revenues of more than $150 million.