Laurus Corporation Acquires Marriott Warner Center Hotel in Los Angeles, CA

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., July 28, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Laurus Corporation, a U.S.-based private real estate investment and development firm, has acquired the Marriott Warner Center hotel in Woodland Hills, CA.

Woodland Hills is located in the heart of Los Angeles County's San Fernando Valley region, an area that accounts for nearly 50 percent of the City of Los Angeles' residents. In addition to a large and growing population, the Valley also boasts an extremely diverse economy, including corporate demand driven by the entertainment, financial services, education and healthcare, and insurance sectors, as well as aerospace/defense and high-technology firms.

The Marriott Warner Center enjoys outstanding visibility and convenient access to the Ventura (101) Freeway, in an area that has been dubbed the "101 Technology Corridor" due to the recent development and growth of technology companies in the region. The hotel is located in the center of the pre-planned Woodland Hills/Warner Center development, a corporate hub with more than 10.3 million square feet of office space, one of the largest office submarkets in the greater Los Angeles area. In addition, the hotel is directly adjacent to the 614,400 square-foot Westfield Promenade mall and the 1.6 million square-foot Westfield Topanga Shopping Center– the leading regional retail destination for North Los Angeles County. Furthermore, its extraordinary location is convenient to numerous Los Angeles landmarks and attractions, such as Universal Studios/Universal CityWalk, the Getty Center, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, California State University Northridge, Pepperdine University, and Six Flags Magic Mountain.

The 16-story, full service hotel, features 474 guestrooms, four food and beverage outlets, including a signature restaurant, and more than 28,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. With its 11,000-square-foot Grand Ballroom, the hotel boasts the largest overall meeting space capacity and ballroom in the area, making it the ideal destination for corporate events and social gatherings.

"The acquisition of Marriott Warner Center is another step forward executing Laurus' focused investment strategy – seeking prime value-add opportunities requiring complex structuring, active management, repositioning and significant renovation opportunities," said Phil Cyburt, Chief Executive Officer of Laurus Corporation. "With the influx of new businesses and expansion of corporate campuses in the area, along with the Valley's projected 3.5% population growth over the next four years, there is tremendous opportunity to maximize the asset's ability to generate revenues in both the corporate and leisure segments."

"The Marriott Warner Center is a prime business hotel in one of the country's top gateway markets, and Woodland Hills in particular continues to enjoy robust demand from the multitude of corporate headquarters and mission-critical offices located in the area.  Coupled with Laurus' ability to consistently execute on value-add business plans and achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns, this acquisition represented an ideal opportunity to allocate capital from Laurus' private equity platform, Ethika Investments," added Douglas Kiel, Chief Financial of Laurus Corporation.

"The hotel's guests will benefit from a $10 million renovation that will refresh the public areas and guest rooms and enhance the hotel's abundant amenities. Our firm places substantial importance on maximizing guest satisfaction through improving the physical appeal of the asset, providing exemplary service, enhancing the dining experience and being responsive to guest needs, down to the smallest details," said Officer Jean Paul Szita, President of Laurus Corporation.

The Marriott Warner Center is located at 21850 Oxnard Street, Woodland Hills, California.

Laurus Corporation is a real estate investment and development company that specializes in hotels and resorts, office buildings, multifamily and mixed-use properties. Laurus employs an entrepreneurial investment strategy designed to consistently achieve attractive risk-adjusted returns by creating capital appreciation opportunities through repositioning, restructuring, re-development and intensive post acquisition asset management.  It is affiliated with Ethika Investments, LLC, a real estate private equity firm.

Laurus Corporation
1880 Century Park East, Suite 1016
Los Angeles, CA 90067
Phone: (310) 277-8600
Fax: (310) 362-0353
http://www.lauruscorporation.com

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SOURCE Laurus Corporation