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Organization and Description of Business
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Accounting Policies [Abstract]  
Organization and Description of Business

1. Organization and Description of Business

Sotherly Hotels Inc. (the “Company”) is a self-managed and self-administered lodging real estate investment trust (“REIT”) that was incorporated in Maryland on August 20, 2004 to own full-service, primarily upscale and upper-upscale hotels located in primary and secondary markets in the mid-Atlantic and southern United States.  Currently, the Company is focused on the acquisition, renovation, upbranding and repositioning of upscale to upper-upscale full-service hotels in the southern United States.  The Company’s portfolio consists of investments in twelve hotel properties comprising 3,156 rooms, and the hotel commercial condominium unit of the Hyde Resort & Residences condominium hotel.   All of the Company’s hotels, except for The DeSoto, the Georgian Terrace, The Whitehall and the Hyde Resort & Residences, operate under the Hilton, Crowne Plaza, Hyatt and Sheraton brands.

The Company commenced operations on December 21, 2004 when it completed its initial public offering and thereafter consummated the acquisition of six hotel properties (the “Initial Properties”). Substantially all of the Company’s assets are held by, and all of its operations are conducted through, Sotherly Hotels LP (the “Operating Partnership”), which at March 31, 2019, was approximately 88.9% owned by the Company.  Pursuant to the terms of the Amended and Restated Agreement of Limited Partnership (the “Partnership Agreement”) of the Operating Partnership, the Company, as general partner, is not entitled to compensation for its services to the Operating Partnership.  The Company, as general partner, conducts substantially all of its operations through the Operating Partnership and the Company’s administrative expenses are the obligations of the Operating Partnership.  Additionally, the Company is entitled to reimbursement for any expenditure incurred by it on the Operating Partnership’s behalf.

For the Company to qualify as a REIT, it cannot operate hotels. Therefore, the Operating Partnership, through its subsidiaries, leases the hotels to direct and indirect subsidiaries of MHI Hospitality TRS Holding, Inc. (collectively, “MHI TRS”), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Operating Partnership. MHI TRS then engages eligible independent hotel management companies, including MHI Hotels Services, LLC, which does business as Chesapeake Hospitality (“Chesapeake Hospitality”) and Highgate Hotels, L.P. (“Highgate Hotels”), to operate the hotels under management contracts. MHI TRS is treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary for federal income tax purposes.

All references in this report to “we”, “us” and “our” refer to the Company, its Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries and predecessors, collectively, unless the context otherwise requires or where otherwise indicated.

Significant transactions occurring during the current and prior fiscal year include the following:

On February 1, 2018, we received proceeds of $5.0 million on the Hotel Ballast mortgage loan after meeting certain requirements, per the mortgage documents.

On February 12, 2018, the Company and the Operating Partnership closed on a sale and issuance by the Operating Partnership of an aggregate $25.0 million of the 7.25% senior unsecured notes due 2021 (the “7.25% Notes”), unconditionally guaranteed by the Company, for net proceeds after all estimated expenses of approximately $23.3 million.  The Operating Partnership used the net proceeds from this offering, together with existing cash on hand and $57.0 million of asset-level mortgage indebtedness, to finance the acquisition of the Hyatt Centric Arlington and for working capital.

On February 26, 2018, we entered into a First Amendment to Loan Agreement, Amended and Restated Promissory Note, and other related documents with International Bank of Commerce to amend the terms of the mortgage loan on The Whitehall hotel located in Houston, TX.  Pursuant to the amended loan documents, payments of principal and interest on a 25-year amortization schedule have begun and the maturity date was extended until February 26, 2023.

On March 1, 2018, we acquired the 318-room Hyatt Centric Arlington located in Arlington, Virginia at an aggregate purchase price of approximately $79.7 million, including seller credits (the “Arlington Acquisition”).  Concurrently with the closing, we entered into a franchise agreement with an affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corporation for the hotel to continue operating as the Hyatt Centric Arlington, and a management agreement with Highgate Hotels for the management of the hotel.  The management agreement: (i) has an initial term of three years commencing March 1, 2018; (ii) provides for a base management fee equal to 2.50% of gross revenues; and (iii) provides for an incentive management fee equal to 10% of the amount by which gross operating profit, as defined in the management agreement, for a given year exceeds the budgeted gross operating profit for such year; provided, however, that the incentive management fee payable in respect of any year shall not exceed 0.5% of the gross revenues of the hotel.  The Hyatt Centric Arlington is subject to a long-term ground lease agreement that covers all of the land underlying the hotel.  The ground lease requires us to make rental payments of $50,000 per year in base rent and percentage rent equal to 3.5% of gross rooms revenues in excess of certain thresholds, as defined in the agreements.  The initial term of the ground lease expires in 2025 and may be extended by us for five additional renewal periods of 10 years each.

On March 1, 2018, we entered into a loan agreement, a first and second promissory note (“Note A” and “Note B”, respectively), and other loan documents, including a guarantee by the Operating Partnership, to secure an aggregate $57.0 million mortgage (the “Mortgage Loan”) on the Hyatt Centric Arlington with Fifth Third Bank.  Pursuant to the Mortgage Loan documents, Note A had an original principal balance in the amount of $50.0 million; had a term of 3 years, with two 1-year extension options, each of which was subject to certain criteria; bore a floating interest rate of one-month LIBOR plus 3.00%, payable monthly; and required monthly principal payments of $78,650.  Pursuant to the Mortgage Loan documents, Note B had an original principal balance in the amount of $7.0 million; had a term of 1-year, with two 1-year extension options, each of which was subject to certain criteria; bore a floating interest rate of three-month LIBOR plus 5.00%, payable monthly; and required monthly principal payments of $100,000 during the initial 1-year term, $150,000 during the first 1-year extended term, and $250,000 during the second 1-year extended term, with interest payments due monthly on the outstanding principal amount during all three terms.  The full amount of the loan proceeds, together with proceeds of the 7.25% Notes offering and cash on hand, were used to finance the Arlington Acquisition.

On July 2, 2018, we purchased a portion of the parking lot, previously leased, adjacent to the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone-University for an aggregate purchase price of $3.5 million.  

 

On July 27, 2018, we entered into a loan agreement and other documents, including a promissory note, to secure a mortgage on the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone-University with MetLife Commercial Mortgage Originator, LLC. The mortgage has an initial principal balance of $18.3 million, with an additional $5.2 million available upon the satisfaction of certain conditions. The mortgage has an initial term of 4 years with a 1-year extension and bears a floating rate of interest equal to the 1-month LIBOR rate plus 4.00%. The mortgage requires monthly interest-only payments and, following a 12-month lockout, can be prepaid with a penalty during its second year and without penalty thereafter. We entered into an interest-rate cap agreement to limit our exposure through August 1, 2022 to increases in LIBOR exceeding 3.25% on a notional amount of $23,500,000. We used a portion of the proceeds to repay the existing first mortgage on the DoubleTree by Hilton Raleigh Brownstone-University and to pay closing costs, and intend to use the balance of the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

 

On July 31, 2018, we entered into a second amendment to the loan and security agreement; an amended, restated and consolidated mortgage loan note; and other related documents with our existing lender, TD Bank, N.A., to amend the terms of our mortgage loan on the DoubleTree by Hilton Philadelphia Airport.  Concurrent with the loan modification, we also entered into a 5-year swap agreement with The Toronto-Dominion Bank.  Pursuant to the amended loan documents: (i) the principal balance of the loan was increased from approximately $30.0 million to $42.2 million; (ii) the loan’s maturity date was extended to July 31, 2023; (iii) the loan bears a floating interest rate equal to the 1-month LIBOR rate plus 2.27% (the “Loan Rate”); (iv) the loan amortizes on a 30-year schedule with payments of principal and interest beginning immediately; (v) the loan can be prepaid without penalty; and (vi) the loan will no longer be fully guaranteed by the Operating Partnership, but the Operating Partnership has guaranteed certain standard “bad boy” carveouts.  Pursuant to the swap agreement: (i) the Loan Rate has been swapped for a fixed interest rate of 5.237%; notional amounts of the swap approximate the declining balance of the loan; and (iii) we are responsible for any potential termination fees associated with early termination of the swap agreement.  We used a portion of the proceeds to repay in full the existing Note B to the mortgage loan on our Hyatt Centric Arlington and to pay closing costs associated with the amendment and will use the balance of the proceeds for general corporate purposes.

On August 31, 2018, we entered into a Sales Agency Agreement, with Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. (“Sandler O’Neill”), under which the Company may sell from time to time through Sandler O’Neill, as sales agent, shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.01 per share, having an aggregate gross sales price of up to $5,000,000 and up to 400,000 shares of the Company’s 7.875% Series C Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share.  Through March 31, 2019, the Company sold 88,297 shares of common stock and 52,141 shares of Series C Preferred Stock, for an aggregate total of approximately $1.8 million in gross proceeds before recognition of offering costs.

On September 18, 2018, we entered into a loan agreement and other documents, including a promissory note, to secure a mortgage on the Hyatt Centric Arlington with MetLife Real Estate Lending LLC.  Pursuant to the loan documents, the Mortgage Loan has an initial principal balance of $50.0 million; has a term of 10 years; bears a fixed interest rate of 5.25%; amortizes on a 30-year schedule; and following a 5-year lockout, can be prepaid with penalty in years 6-10 and without penalty during the final 4 months of the term.  The Company used the proceeds to repay the existing first mortgage on the Hyatt Centric Arlington, to pay closing costs, and for general corporate purposes.