Back in black for Sax owner

23-Feb-12 – The publicly traded company that owns Hotel Sax and other commercial property at Marina City is reporting a net profit for 2011. Any profit at all would have been an improvement over 2010, and LaSalle Hotel Properties managed a $12.9 million net profit. Total revenue was $719 million, a 19 percent increase from the previous year.

In 2010, the real estate investment trust lost $24.8 million.

In a news release on Wednesday, LaSalle was most proud of its EBITDA or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. It was up to 30.5 percent of total revenue. Average daily rate and revenue per room were also up.

In last year’s fourth quarter, LaSalle made $600,000 off revenue of $179 million. A year earlier, it lost $17 million from revenue of $161.7 million.

In 2011, LaSalle spent $543.4 million to buy three properties. $48.8 million spent on renovations included fixing up meeting space at Westin Michigan Avenue, its other hotel in Chicago.

Based in Bethesda, Maryland, LaSalle currently owns 37 properties, offering 9,830 guest rooms. Hotel Sax was acquired in 2006 for $114 million. Its net book value today, according to the company’s annual report also released this week, is $117 million. That is the sixth highest net book value among the company’s properties.