LaSalle Hotel Properties has acquired a majority interest in the 298-room Liberty Hotel from HEI Hotels & Resorts through a US$170 million joint venture with the property’s original developer and co-owner, Carpenter & Co. of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The purchase will be funded using proceeds from a LaSalle stock offering made last month.
Dick Friedman, president and chief operating officer of Carpenter & Co., in 2007 redeveloped the space original built as a jail in 1851 and is now connected to Massachusetts General Hospital.
The Liberty, which house five bars and restaurants, will continue to operate under Starwood Hotels & Resort’s Luxury Collection.
Carpenter’s hotel portfolio includes the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco and the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square, Cambridge.