Hotel Will Rise in Restaurant Park

American Community Properties Trust (AMEX, PSE:APO) announced recently that it has completed a sale in the O’Donnell Lake Restaurant park to Shamin Hotels of Chester, Virginia.  Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Shamin Hotels, through its subsidiary, St. Charles Hospitality LLC, plans to construct a 130-room Hilton Garden Inn on the site, at the intersection of St. Patrick’s Drive and Smallwood Drive in St. Charles’ Westlake Village.  The hotel plans to include a restaurant, bar, boardroom and extensive meeting and banquet services for up to 250 people, among other amenities.  Construction is expected to begin this spring, and company officials expect the hotel to open to guests in 2009.  Established in 1979, Shamin Hotels operates 26 properties in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.     

ACPT also announced it has started construction of a two-story mixed use office building also in the O’Donnell Lake complex.  The Class A office building will have restaurant space, over 10,000 square feet of office space, a waterfront view, and access to the O’Donnell Lake boardwalk.  The Company projects occupancy to commence in late 2008 or early 2009.

“Momentum and enthusiasm for the restaurant park continue to grow,” said Edwin L. Kelly, President and Chief Operating Officer of ACPT. “With one restaurant open, and another restaurant, a new hotel, and the office building on the way, the O’Donnell Lake Restaurant Park promises to be one of the most dynamic areas of St. Charles.”

The approved plan for the restaurant park includes five freestanding restaurants, two commercial office buildings, and the Hilton Garden Inn.  A boardwalk and bridge across O’Donnell Lake will connect the restaurant park to a first-run movie theater and the St. Charles Towne Center, a Simon Property Group shopping mall that attracts up to ten million visitors annually.

Artist’s rendering of O’Donnell Restaurant Park.  View from St. Charles Towne Centre.  Photo courtesy of ACPT.

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