Ashford Closes $580M Loan Secured By 16 Hotels, ‘Eliminates All Corporate-Level Debt’

Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. (NYSE: AHT), a sponsor of two non-listed preferred stock offerings, closed on $580 million refinancing secured by 16 hotels. The financing includes the hotels that were previously part of the company’s KEYS Pool C Loan, KEYS Pool D Loan, KEYS Pool E Loan and the BAML Pool 3 Loan, together with the Westin Princeton. The previous loans had a combined outstanding loan balance of approximately $438.7 million.

The new financing is non-recourse, has a two-year term with three one-year extension options, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, and bears interest at a floating interest rate of SOFR + 4.37%. Ashford Hospitality Trust used approximately $72 million of the excess proceeds to completely pay off the remaining balance on its strategic financing, including the exit fee. The remaining excess proceeds were used to fund transaction costs and reserves for future capital expenditures.

The REIT had closed on the sale of the Hilton Boston Back Bay for $171 million ($438,000 per key) in cash in April 2024. At the time, the company said proceeds from the sale were used for debt reduction, including approximately $68 million to pay down its strategic financing.

“We are extremely pleased to announce the refinancing of these loan pools on attractive terms,” commented Stephen Zsigray, president and chief executive officer of Ashford Hospitality Trust. “The successful refinancing of these 16 hotels not only generated enough excess proceeds to fully pay off our strategic financing, but we were also able to set aside significant reserves for future capital expenditures at these hotels. With the closing of this refinancing along with the full pay off of our strategic financing, we’ve addressed several pending loan maturities and eliminated all corporate-level debt.”

In December 2024, the REIT announced its plans to close its non-listed Series J and Series K offerings on March 31, 2025. Since launching the Series J and K stocks in 2022, the company raised approximately $180 million of gross proceeds from a network of 52 broker-dealers and registered investment advisers.

Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust focused on investing predominantly in upper upscale, full-service hotels.

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