Liberty Group of Cos. buys two Central Florida hotels

Tampa-based Liberty Group of Cos. has purchased the 63-room Microtel Inn & Suites hotel in Ocala and the 123-room Days Inn hotel in Wildwood. The Liberty Group sold both of the hotels in 2007 for $6.78 million.

The Liberty Group purchased the non-performing senior mortgages for the two properties from the lenders and then foreclosed on the properties.

No sale price was released for the debt purchase except that it was at a substantial discount to the outstanding principal amount.

The company says the purchases were part of its strategy to pursue real estate properties that are undervalued but present attractive growth opportunities.

“While these assets do not necessarily meet our upper-midscale hotel investment criteria, we believe that our proven track record of executing a value-add strategy through repositioning the properties will increase short-term cash flow yield and long-term overall property valuation,” says Punit R. Shah, president and chief operating officer of the Liberty Group.

Liberty Hospitality Management will manage the hotels.

Started in 1980 by hotelier Raxit N. Shah, the Liberty Group owns and operates more than 32 hotels, most of which are in Florida.