Edgar Filing: ASHFORD HOSPITALITY TRUST INC

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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on August 30, 2004

Registration No. 333-114283

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Amendment No. 1 to Form S-11

Form S-3

REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its governing instruments)


Maryland		86-1062192
(State of jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

14185 Dallas Parkway, Suite 1100 Dallas, Texas 75254 (972) 490-9600		Montgomery J. Bennett David A. Brooks 14185 Dallas Parkway, Suite 1100 Dallas, Texas 75254 (972) 490-9600
(Address including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal and executive offices)		(Name, address, including zip code, telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Copies to:

David Barbour

Muriel C. McFarling

Andrews Kurth LLP

1717 Main Street, Suite 3700

Dallas, Texas 75201

(214) 659-4400

Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after the effective date of this Registration Statement.

If the only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box. o

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, other than securities offered only in connection with dividend or interest reinvestment plans, check the following box. þ

If the Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

If the Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

If delivery of the prospectus is expected to be made pursuant to Rule 434, please check the following box. o

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE






		Proposed Maximum	Amount of
Title of Each Class of Securities to Be Registered		Aggregate Offering Price(1)	Registration Fee(2)


Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share

Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share

Debt Securities(3)

Warrants(4)

	Total	$350,000,000(5)	$44,345.00



(1)	The proposed aggregate offering prices per class of security will be determined from time to time by the registrant in connection with the issuance by the registrant of the securities registered hereunder.


(2)	Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(o) of the rules and regulations of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Of this amount, $10,928 was previously paid with the initial filing.


(3)	Debt securities may be issued with original issue discount such that the aggregate initial public offering price will not exceed $350,000,000, together with the other securities issued hereunder.


(4)	The warrants represent rights to purchase other classes of securities of Ashford Hospitality Properties Trust, Inc. registered hereunder.


(5)	In no event will the aggregate initial offering price of all securities issued from time to time pursuant to this Registration Statement exceed $350,000,000 or the equivalent thereof in one or more foreign currencies, foreign currency units, or composite currencies. The securities registered hereunder may be sold separately or as units with other securities registered hereunder

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed or supplemented. We cannot sell any of the securities described in this prospectus until the registration statement that we have filed to cover the securities has become effective under the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. This prospectus is not an offer to sell the securities, nor is it a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, in any state where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED AUGUST 30, 2004

PROSPECTUS

$350,000,000

(ASHFORD LOGO)

COMMON STOCK

PREFERRED STOCK

DEBT SECURITIES

WARRANTS

Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. intends to offer and sell from time to time the debt and equity securities described in this prospectus, which may include the issuance and sale of up to 2,400,000 shares of common stock from time to time through Brinson Patrick Securities Corporation, as sales manager. In connection with the sale of common shares on our behalf, the sales manager will be deemed to be an “underwriter” with in the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the compensation of the sales manager may be deemed to be underwriting commissions or discounts. The total offering price of the securities described in this prospectus will not exceed $350,000,000 in the aggregate.

We will provide the specific terms of any securities we may offer in a supplement to this prospectus. You should carefully read this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement before deciding to invest in these securities.

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AHT.” We may make any sales of our common shares under this prospectus, if any, on or through the facilities of the New York Stock Exchange, to or through a market maker, or to or through an electronic communications network, at market prices prevailing at the time of sale, or in any other manner permitted by law (including, without limitation, privately negotiated transactions). On August 30, 2004, the last reported sale price of our common shares as reported was $8.62 per share.

The securities may be offered directly, through agents designated by us from time to time, or through underwriters or dealers.

Investing in our securities involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 1 of this prospectus to read about risks you should consider before buying our securities.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

The date of this prospectus is August , 2004.

TABLE OF CONTENTS


	Page

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS		ii
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION		ii
INCORPORATION OF INFORMATION BY REFERENCE		ii
A WARNING ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS		iii
OUR COMPANY		1
RISK FACTORS		2
USE OF PROCEEDS		18
RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES		18
DESCRIPTION OF OUR CAPITAL STOCK		19
DESCRIPTION OF OUR COMMON STOCK		21
DESCRIPTION OF OUR PREFERRED STOCK		22
DESCRIPTION OF OUR DEBT SECURITIES		26
DESCRIPTION OF OUR WARRANTS		30
BOOK-ENTRY SECURITIES		31
MATERIAL PROVISIONS OF MARYLAND LAW AND OF OUR CHARTER AND BYLAWS		33
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT		36
FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF OUR STATUS AS A REIT		40
PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION		59
EXPERTS		60
LEGAL MATTERS		61
Sales Agency Agreement
Opinion/Consent of AHogan & Hartson
Opinion/Consent of Andrews Kurth LLP
Opinion/Consent of Andrews Kurth LLP
Statement Re: Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Combined Fixed Charges
Consent of Ernst & Young LLP
Consent of Holland Shipes Vann, P.C.

You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone else to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. An offer to sell these securities will not be made in any jurisdiction where the offer and sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus, as well as information we previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and incorporated by reference, is accurate as of the date on the front cover of this prospectus only. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since that date.

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

This prospectus is part of a shelf registration statement. We may sell, from time to time, in one or more offerings, any combinations of the securities described in this prospectus. This prospectus only provides you with a general description of the securities we may offer. Each time we sell securities under this prospectus, we will provide a prospectus supplement that contains specific information about the terms of the securities. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. You should read both this prospectus and any prospectus supplement together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information.”

The total dollar amount of the securities sold under this prospectus will not exceed $350,000,000.

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You may read and copy any materials that we file with the SEC without charge at the public reference room of the Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Room 1024, Washington, DC 20549. Information about the operation of the public reference room may be obtained by calling the Securities and Exchange Commission at 1-800-SEC-0300. Also, the SEC maintains an internet website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers, including Ashford, that file electronically with the SEC. The public can obtain any documents that we file with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

We also make available free of charge on or through our internet website (www.ahtreit.com) our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and, if applicable, amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC.

This prospectus is part of a registration statement on Form S-3 that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This prospectus does not contain all of the information set forth in the registration statement and exhibits and schedules to the registration statement. For further information with respect to our company and our securities, reference is made to the registration statement, including the exhibits and schedules to the registration statement. Statements contained in this prospectus as to the contents of any contract or other document referred to in this prospectus are not necessarily complete and, where that contract is an exhibit to the registration statement, each statement is qualified in all respects by reference to the exhibit to which the reference relates.

INCORPORATION OF INFORMATION BY REFERENCE

The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” the information we file with them, which means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to other documents that we file with the SEC. These incorporated documents contain important business and financial information about us that is not included in or delivered with this prospectus. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be part of this prospectus, and later information filed with the SEC will update and supersede this information.

We incorporate by reference the documents listed below and any future filings we make with the SEC under Section 13(a), 13(c), 14 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, until the offering of securities covered by this prospectus is complete:



	•	our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2003;



	•	our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2004 and June 30, 2004; and



	•	our Current Reports on Form 8-K, filed with the SEC on January 28, 2004, February 26, 2004, March 16, 2004, March 24, 2004 (filed pursuant to Items 2 and 7), June 21, 2004 and August 5, 2004 (pursuant to Items 2 and 7), and our amendments to our Current Reports on Form 8-K/ A, filed with the SEC on January 14, 2004, April 12, 2004 and August 19, 2004.

You may obtain copies of these documents at no cost by requesting them from us in writing at the following address:



	Investor Relations

	Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.

	14185 Dallas Parkway, Suite 1100


	Dallas, Texas 75254


	(972) 490-9600.

A WARNING ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

We make forward-looking statements in this prospectus, and in the information incorporated by reference into it, that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans and objectives. Statements regarding the following subjects are forward-looking by their nature:



	•	our business and investment strategy;



	•	our projected operating results;



	•	completion of any pending transactions;



	•	our ability to obtain future financing arrangements;



	•	our understanding of our competition;



	•	market trends;



	•	projected capital expenditures; and



	•	the impact of technology on our operations and business.

The forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance, taking into account all information currently available to us. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. You should carefully consider this risk when you make an investment decision concerning our securities. Additionally, the following factors could cause actual results to vary from our forward-looking statements:



	•	the factors discussed in this prospectus, and in the information incorporated by reference into it, including those set forth under the section titled “Risk Factors;”



	•	general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of our securities;



	•	changes in our business or investment strategy;



	•	availability, terms and deployment of capital;



	•	availability of qualified personnel;



	•	changes in our industry and the market in which we operate, interest rates or the general economy; and



	•	the degree and nature of our competition.

When we use the words “will likely result,” “may,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “should,” “expect,” “believe,” “intend,” or similar expressions, we intend to identify forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

iii

OUR COMPANY

We are a Maryland corporation that was formed in May 2003 to take advantage of the existing and developing investment opportunities in the lodging industry. These diverse lodging investment opportunities may result from inefficiencies related to market illiquidity, supply/demand imbalances and general business cycles. We target specific opportunities created by the current recovering lodging market while retaining the flexibility to invest in the most attractive risk-reward opportunities as they develop in the lodging business cycle. To our knowledge, we are one of the few publicly traded REITs exclusively focused on investing in the hospitality industry at all levels of the capital structure and across all segments where pricing, yield and capital appreciation advantages may exist.

We currently own 23 hotel properties in 12 states with 3,469 rooms and have acquired or originated mezzanine loan receivables of approximately $71.6 million. We are self-advised and own our lodging investments and conduct our business through Ashford Hospitality Limited Partnership, our operating partnership. We currently own an 81.7% interest in our operating partnership. The remaining 18.3% is owned by limited partners who received units in connection with the acquisition of certain of our assets. The substantial majority of these limited partnership units are owned by certain of our executives, employees and employees of our affiliates. We are the sole general partner of our operating partnership.

We have elected to be treated as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for federal income tax purposes. Because of limitations imposed on REITs in operating hotel properties, third-party managers manage each of our hotel properties. Remington Lodging & Hospitality, L.P., or Remington Lodging, is our primary property manager, managing 14 of our 23 hotel properties. Remington Lodging is wholly owned by Mr. Archie Bennett, our Chairman, and Mr. Montgomery J. Bennett, our President and Chief Executive Officer. Our remaining nine hotel properties are managed by management companies unaffiliated with us.

We currently have 23 full-time employees. The employees perform directly or through our operating partnership various acquisition, development, redevelopment, and corporate management functions. All persons employed in the day-to-day operation of our hotels are employees of the management companies engaged by our lessees, and are not our employees.

Our principal executive offices are located at 14185 Dallas Parkway, Suite 1100, Dallas, Texas 75254. Our telephone number is (972) 490-9600. Our website is http://www.ahtreit.com. The contents of our website are not a part of this prospectus.

RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves various risks. You should carefully consider the following risk factors in conjunction with the other information contained in this prospectus before purchasing our securities. The risks discussed in this prospectus can adversely affect our business, liquidity, operating results, prospects and financial condition. This could cause the market price of our securities to decline and could cause you to lose all or part of your investment. The risk factors described below are not the only risks that may affect us. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us also may adversely affect our business, liquidity, operating results, prospects and financial condition.

Risks Related to Our Business


	Our business strategy depends on our continued growth. We may fail to integrate recent and additional investments into our operations or otherwise manage our planned growth, which may adversely affect our operating results.

Our business plan contemplates a period of continued growth in the next several years. We cannot assure you that we will be able to adapt our management, administrative, accounting and operational systems, or hire and retain sufficient operational staff to successfully integrate our recent investments into our portfolio and manage any future acquisitions of additional assets without operating disruptions or unanticipated costs. Acquisition of any additional portfolio of properties or mortgages would generate additional operating expenses that we will be required to pay. As we acquire additional assets, we will be subject to the operational risks associated with owning new lodging properties. Our failure to integrate successfully our recent acquisitions as well as any future acquisitions into our portfolio could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition and our ability to pay dividends to stockholders.


	*We may be unable to identify additional real estate investments that meet our investment criteria or to acquire the properties we have under contract.*

We cannot assure you that we will be able to identify real estate investments that meet our investment criteria, that we will be successful in completing any investment we identify or that any investment we complete will produce a return on our investment. Moreover, we will have broad authority to invest in any real estate investments that we may identify in the future. We also cannot assure you that we will acquire the properties we currently have under firm purchase contracts or that the acquisition terms we have negotiated will not change.


	*Conflicts of interest could result in our management acting other than in our stockholders’ best interest.*

Conflicts of interest relating to Remington Hotel Corporation and Remington Lodging may lead to management decisions that are not in the stockholders’ best interest. The Chairman of our board of directors, Mr. Archie Bennett, Jr., serves as the Chairman of the board of directors of Remington Hotel, and our Chief Executive Officer and President, Mr. Montgomery Bennett serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Remington Hotel. Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett own 100% of Remington Hotel. Remington Lodging, which is also 100% owned by Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett, manages 14 of our 23 properties and provides related services and provides property management services and project development services. Additionally, Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett own minority interests in several lodging properties not transferred to our operating partnership in connection with our initial public offering.

Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett’s ownership interests in and management obligations to Remington Hotel and Remington Lodging present them with conflicts of interest in making management decisions related to the commercial arrangements between us and Remington Lodging and will reduce the time and effort they each spend managing us. Our board of directors has adopted a policy that requires all management decisions relating to the management agreements with Remington Lodging be approved by a majority or, in certain circumstances, all of our independent directors.

Holders of units in our operating partnership, including members of our management team, may suffer adverse tax consequences upon our sale of certain properties. Therefore, holders of units, either directly or indirectly, including Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett, Mr. David Brooks, our Chief Legal Officer, Mr. Mark Nunneley, our Chief Accounting Officer, and Mr. Martin L. Edelman (or his family members), one of our directors, may have different objectives regarding the appropriate pricing and timing of a property’s sale. These officers and directors of ours may influence us not to sell or refinance certain properties, even if such sale or refinancing might be financially advantageous to our stockholders, or to enter into tax deferred exchanges with the proceeds of such sales when such a reinvestment might not otherwise be in our best interest.

In addition, we agreed to indemnify the contributors of the properties contributed to us in exchange for operating partnership units in connection with our initial public offering, including (indirectly) Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett, Brooks and Nunneley and Edelman (or his family members), against the income tax they may incur if we dispose of any of these properties. Because of this indemnification, our indemnified management team members may make decisions about selling any of these properties that are not in our stockholders’ best interest.

We are a party to a master hotel management agreement and an exclusivity agreement with Remington Lodging. Of our 23 hotels, 14 are currently managed by Remington Lodging. The management agreement describes the terms of Remington Lodging’s management of the 14 hotels, as well as any future hotels we may acquire that will be managed by Remington. If we terminate the management agreement as to any of our hotels that are subject to the management agreement, we will be required to pay Remington Lodging a substantial termination fee. For example, if we were to terminate the management agreement with respect to all 14 of our hotels that are currently being managed by Remington Lodging because we elected to sell those hotels, the fee would be approximately $10.5 million. The exclusivity agreement requires us to engage Remington Lodging, unless our independent directors either (i) unanimously vote to hire a different manager or developer, or (ii) by a majority vote, elect not to engage Remington Lodging because they have determined that special circumstances exist or that, based on Remington Lodging’s prior performance, another manager or developer could perform the duties materially better. As the sole owners of Remington Lodging, which would receive any development, management and management termination fees payable by us under the management agreement, Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett may influence our decisions to sell a hotel or acquire or develop a hotel when it is not in the best interests of our stockholders to do so.

In addition, Ashford Financial Corporation contributed to us asset management and consulting agreements that relate to management and consulting services that Ashford Financial Corporation agreed to perform for hotel property managers with respect to certain identified hotel properties. Ashford Financial Corporation is 100% owned by Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett. The agreements provide for annual payments to us, as the assignee of Ashford Financial Corporation, in consideration for our performance of certain asset management and consulting services. These services relate to 27 hotel properties managed by eight management companies. The exact amount of the consideration due to us is contingent upon the revenue generated by the hotels underlying the asset management and consulting agreements. Ashford Financial Corporation has guaranteed a minimum payment to us of $1.2 million per year, subject to adjustments based on the consumer price index, for five years beginning on the date of our initial public offering. If any property underlying any asset management and consulting agreement is sold at any time, we will no longer derive any income from such property, and the amount of income we receive under the applicable asset management and consulting agreement will be decreased. Any sale or related decrease in income, however, will not affect the amount guaranteed by Ashford Financial Corporation under its guaranty.

Each of the eight management companies is either owned 100% by Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett, or is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Remington Hotel Corporation, which is owned 100% by Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett. Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett also have a minority ownership interest in the hotel properties benefiting from the services provided pursuant to the asset management and consulting agreements. Although they do not own a controlling interest in such properties, Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett may benefit from a future sale of the properties.


	*Tax indemnification obligations that apply in the event that we sell certain properties could limit our operating flexibility.*

If we dispose of any of the five properties that were contributed to us in exchange for units in our operating partnership in connection with our initial public offering, we may be obligated to indemnify the contributors, in which Messrs. Archie and Monty Bennett have substantial ownership interests, against the tax consequences of the sale. We have agreed to pay a contributor’s tax liability if we dispose of a property contributed by the contributor in a taxable transaction before the earlier of:


	•	10 years after the contribution of such property, and

	•	the date on which the contributor no longer owns, in the aggregate, at least 25% of the units we issued to the contributor at the time of its contribution of property to our operating partnership.

This tax indemnity will be equal to the amount of the federal and state income tax liability the contributor incurs with respect to the gain allocated to the contributor. The terms of the contribution agreements also require us to gross up the tax indemnity payment for the amount of income taxes due as a result of the tax indemnity payment. While the tax indemnities do not contractually limit our ability to conduct our business in the way we desire, we are less likely to sell any of the contributed properties in a taxable transaction during the indemnity period. Instead, we would either hold the property for the entire indemnity period or seek to transfer the property in a tax-deferred like-kind exchange. In addition, a condemnation of one of our properties could trigger our tax indemnification obligations.

In addition, under the tax indemnification agreements, we have agreed for a period of 10 years to use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain non-recourse mortgage indebtedness in the amount of at least $16.0 million, which will allow the contributors to defer recognition of gain in connection with the contribution of the Las Vegas hotel property as part of our formation.

Additionally, we are prohibited from selling or transferring the Sea Turtle Inn in Atlantic Beach, Florida until April 1, 2007 if, as a result, the entity from whom we acquired the property would recognize gain for federal tax purposes. If we sell or transfer this property after April 1, 2007, but prior to April 1, 2009, and the sale or transfer results in the entity that sold us the property having to recognize gain for federal tax purposes, we must pay $180,000 to that entity. However, this amount will be reduced by $7,500 for each passing month from April 1, 2007 until April 1, 2009.


	*Hotel franchise requirements could adversely affect distributions to our stockholders.*

We must comply with operating standards and terms and conditions imposed by the franchisors of the hotel brands under which our hotels operate. The franchisors periodically inspect their licensed hotels to confirm adherence to their operating standards. The failure of a hotel to maintain standards could result in the loss or cancellation of a franchise license. With respect to operational standards, we rely on our property managers to conform to such standards. The franchisors may also require us to make certain capital improvements to maintain the hotel in accordance with system standards, the cost of which can be substantial. It is possible that a franchisor could condition the continuation of a franchise on the completion of capital improvements that our management or board of directors determines are too expensive or otherwise not economically feasible in light of general economic conditions or the operating results or prospects of the affected hotel. In that event, our management or board of directors may elect to allow the franchise to lapse or be terminated which could result in a change in brand franchising or operation of the hotel as an independent hotel.

In addition, when the term of a franchise expires, the franchisor has no obligation to issue a new franchise. The loss of a franchise could have a material adverse effect on the operations or the underlying value of the affected hotel because of the loss of associated name recognition, marketing support and centralized reservation systems provided by the franchisor. The loss of a franchise could also have a material adverse effect on cash available for distribution to stockholders.


	Future terrorist attacks similar in nature to the events of September 11, 2001 may negatively affect the performance of our properties and the hotel industry and may negatively affect our future results of operations and financial condition.

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, their after-effects and the resulting U.S.-led military action in Iraq substantially reduced business and leisure travel throughout the United States and hotel industry revenue per available room, or RevPAR, generally during the period following September 11, 2001. We cannot predict the extent to which additional terrorist attacks, acts of war or similar events may occur in the future or how such events would directly or indirectly impact the hotel industry or our operating results. Future terrorist attacks, acts of war or similar events could have further material adverse effects on the hotel industry at large and our operations in particular.


	*Our investments will be concentrated in particular segments of a single industry.*

Our entire business is hotel related. Our current investment strategy is to acquire or develop mid to upscale hotels, acquire first mortgages on hotel properties, invest in other mortgage-related instruments such as mezzanine loans to hotel owners and operators and participate in hotel sale-leaseback transactions. Adverse conditions in the hotel industry will have a material adverse effect on our operating and investment revenues and cash available for distribution to our stockholders.


	*We rely on third party property managers, especially Remington Lodging, to operate our hotels and for a significant majority of our cash flow.*

For us to continue to qualify as a REIT, third parties must operate our hotels. A REIT may lease its hotels to taxable REIT subsidiaries in which the REIT can own up to a 100% interest. A taxable REIT subsidiary, or TRS, pays corporate level income tax and may retain any after-tax income. A REIT must satisfy certain conditions to use the TRS structure. One of those conditions is that the TRS must hire, to manage the hotels, an “eligible independent contractor” (“EIC”) that is actively engaged in the trade or business of managing hotels for parties other than the REIT. An EIC cannot (i) own more than 35% of the REIT, (ii) be owned more than 35% by persons owning more than 35% of the REIT or (iii) provide any income to the REIT (i.e., the EIC cannot pay fees to the REIT, and the REIT cannot own any debt or equity securities of the EIC).

Accordingly, while we may lease hotels to a TRS that we own, the TRS must engage a third-party operator to manage the hotels and our ability to direct and control how our hotels are operated is less than if we were able to manage our hotels directly. We have entered into a management agreement with Remington Lodging, which is owned 100% by Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett, to manage 14 of our 23 lodging properties, and we have hired unaffiliated third party property managers to manage the remaining nine properties we currently own. We do not supervise any of the property managers or their respective personnel on a day-to-day basis, and we cannot assure you that the property managers will manage our properties in a manner that is consistent with their respective obligations under the applicable management agreement or our obligations under our hotel franchise agreements. We also cannot assure you that our property managers will not be negligent in their performance, will not engage in other criminal or fraudulent activity, or will not otherwise default on their respective management obligations to us. If any of the foregoing occurs, our relationships with the franchisors may be damaged and we may then be in breach of the franchise agreement, and we could incur liabilities resulting from loss or injury to our property or to persons at our properties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition, as well as our ability to pay dividends to stockholders.


	*If we cannot obtain additional financing, our growth will be limited.*

We are required to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our taxable income, excluding net capital gain, each year to continue to qualify as a REIT. As a result, our retained earnings available to fund acquisitions, development or other capital expenditures are nominal. After utilizing the proceeds of this offering, we will rely upon the availability of additional debt or equity capital to fund these activities. Our long-

term ability to grow through acquisitions or development of hotel-related assets will be limited if we cannot obtain additional financing. Market conditions may make it difficult to obtain financing, and we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain additional debt or equity financing or that we will be able to obtain it on favorable terms.


	*We may be unable to generate sufficient revenue from operations to pay our operating expenses and to pay dividends to our stockholders.*

As a REIT, we are required to distribute at least 90% of our taxable income each year to our stockholders. We intend to distribute to our stockholders all or substantially all of our taxable income each year so as to qualify for the tax benefits accorded to REITs, but our ability to make distributions may be adversely affected by the risk factors described in this prospectus. We cannot assure you that we will be able to make distributions in the future. In the event of continued or future downturns in our operating results and financial performance or unanticipated capital improvements to our hotels or declines in the value of our mortgage portfolio, we may be unable to declare or pay distributions to our stockholders. The timing and amount of distributions are in the sole discretion of our board of directors, which will consider, among other factors, our financial performance, debt service obligations and applicable debt covenants (if any), and capital expenditure requirements.


	*We are subject to various risks related to our use of, and dependence on, debt.*

The amount we have to pay on variable rate debt increases as interest rates increase, which may decrease cash available for distribution to stockholders. We cannot assure you that we will be able to meet our debt service obligations. If we do not meet our debt service obligations, we risk the loss of some or all of our assets to foreclosure. Changes in economic conditions or our financial results or prospects could (i) result in higher interest rates on variable rate debt, (ii) reduce the availability of debt financing generally or debt financing at favorable rates, (iii) reduce cash available for distribution to stockholders and (iv) increase the risk that we could be forced to liquidate assets to repay debt, any of which could have a material adverse affect on us.

If we violate covenants in any debt agreements, we could be required to repay all or a portion of our indebtedness before maturity at a time when we might be unable to arrange financing for such repayment on attractive terms, if at all. Violations of certain debt covenants may result in our being unable to borrow unused amounts under our line of credit, even if repayment of some or all borrowings is not required.

In any event, financial covenants under our current or future debt obligations could impair our planned business strategies by limiting our ability to borrow beyond certain amounts or for certain purposes.

While our policy is to limit the leverage on our investments to 60% of gross assets, our board of directors may change this and our other operating policies and strategies at any time without stockholder approval. Our governing instruments do not contain any limitation on our ability to incur indebtedness.


	*An interest rate mismatch could occur between asset yields and borrowing rates, resulting in decreased yields on our investment portfolio.*

Our operating results will depend in part on differences between the income from our assets (net of credit losses) and our borrowing costs. We intend to fund the origination and acquisition of a portion of our assets with borrowings that have interest rates that reset relatively rapidly, such as monthly or quarterly. We anticipate that, in many cases, the income from our assets will respond more slowly to interest rate fluctuations than the cost of our borrowings, creating a mismatch between asset yields and borrowing rates. Consequently, changes in interest rates, particularly short-term interest rates, may influence our net income. Increases in these rates will tend to decrease our net income and market value of our mortgage assets. We will incur operating losses if interest rate fluctuations result in our interest expense exceeding interest income.


	*We compete with other hotels for guests. We will also face competition for acquisitions of lodging properties and of desirable mortgage investments.*

The mid to upscale segments of the hotel business are competitive. Our hotels compete on the basis of location, room rates, quality, service levels, reputation, and reservation systems, among many other factors. New hotels may be constructed and these additions to supply create new competitors, in some cases without corresponding increases in demand for hotel rooms. The result in some cases may be lower revenue, which would result in lower cash available for distribution to stockholders.

We compete for hotel acquisitions with entities that have similar investment objectives as we do. This competition could limit the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us. It may also increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell to us, making it more difficult for us to acquire new properties on attractive terms or on the terms contemplated in our business plan.

We also compete for mortgage asset investments with numerous public and private real estate investment vehicles, such as mortgage banks, pension funds, other REITs, institutional investors and individuals. Mortgages and other investments are often obtained through a competitive bidding process. In addition, competitors may seek to establish relationships with the financial institutions and other firms from which we intend to purchase such assets. Competition may result in higher prices for mortgage assets, lower yields and a narrower spread of yields over our borrowing costs.

Many of our competitors are larger than us, may have access to greater capital, marketing and other resources, may have personnel with more experience than our officers, may be able to accept higher levels of debt or otherwise may tolerate more risk than us, may have better relations with hotel franchisors, sellers or lenders and may have other advantages over us in conducting certain business and providing certain services.


	*We may engage in hedging transactions, which can limit our gains and increase exposure to losses.*

We may enter into hedging transactions to protect us from the effects of interest rate fluctuations on floating rate debt and also to protect our portfolio of mortgage assets from interest rate and prepayment rate fluctuations. Our hedging transactions may include entering into interest rate swap agreements or interest rate cap or floor agreements, purchasing or selling futures contracts, purchasing put and call options on securities or securities underlying futures contracts, or entering into forward rate agreements. Hedging activities may not have the desired beneficial impact on our results of operations or financial condition. No hedging activity can completely insulate us from the risks associated with changes in interest rates and prepayment rates. Moreover, interest rate hedging could fail to protect us or adversely affect us because, among other things:


	•	Available interest rate hedging may not correspond directly with the interest rate risk for which protection is sought.

	•	The duration of the hedge may not match the duration of the related liability.

	•	The party owing money in the hedging transaction may default on its obligation to pay.

	•	The credit quality of the party owing money on the hedge may be downgraded to such an extent that it impairs our ability to sell or assign our side of the hedging transaction.

	•	The value of derivatives used for hedging may be adjusted from time to time in accordance with accounting rules to reflect changes in fair value. Downward adjustments, or “mark-to-market losses,” would reduce our stockholders’ equity.

Hedging involves risk and typically involves costs, including transaction costs, that may reduce our overall returns on our investments. These costs increase as the period covered by the hedging increases and during periods of rising and volatile interest rates. These costs will also limit the amount of cash available for distributions to stockholders. We generally intend to hedge as much of the interest rate risk as management determines is in our best interests given the cost of such hedging transactions. The REIT qualification rules may limit our ability to enter into hedging transactions by requiring us to limit our income from hedges. See “Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT — Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to

hedge effectively.” If we are unable to hedge effectively because of the REIT rules, we will face greater interest rate exposure than may be commercially prudent.


	*We may not be able to sell our investments on favorable terms.*

We may decide to sell investments for a variety of reasons. We cannot assure you that we will be able to sell any of our investments on favorable terms, or that our investments will not be sold for a loss.

Risks Related to Hotel Investments


	*We are subject to general risks associated with operating hotels.*

Our hotels (and the hotels underlying our mortgage and mezzanine loans) are subject to various operating risks common to the hotel industry, many of which are beyond our control, including the following:


	•	our hotels compete with other hotel properties in their geographic markets and many of our competitors have substantial marketing and financial resources;

	•	over-building in our markets, which adversely affects occupancy and revenues at our hotels;

	•	dependence on business and commercial travelers and tourism; and

	•	adverse effects of general, regional and local economic conditions and increases in energy costs or labor costs and other expenses affecting travel, which may affect travel patterns and reduce the number of business and commercial travelers and tourists.

These factors could adversely affect our hotel revenues and expenses, as well as the hotels underlying our mortgage and mezzanine loans, which in turn would adversely affect our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.


	*We may have to make significant capital expenditures to maintain our lodging properties.*

Our hotels have an ongoing need for renovations and other capital improvements, including replacements of furniture, fixtures and equipment. The franchisors of our hotels may also require periodic capital improvements as a condition of keeping the franchise licenses. Generally, we are responsible for the costs of these capital improvements, which gives rise to the following risks:


	•	cost overruns and delays;

	•	renovations can be disruptive to operations and can displace revenue at the hotels, including revenue lost while rooms under renovation are out of service;

	•	the cost of funding renovations and the possibility that financing for these renovations may not be available on attractive terms; and

	•	the risk that the return on our investment in these capital improvements will not be what we expect.

If we have insufficient cash flow from operations to fund needed capital expenditures, then we will need to borrow to fund future capital improvements.


	*The hotel business is seasonal, which will affect our results of operations from quarter to quarter.*

The hotel industry is seasonal in nature. Generally, occupancy rates and hotel revenues are greater in the second and third quarters than in the first and fourth quarters. This seasonality can cause quarterly fluctuations in our revenues.


	*Our development activities may be more costly than we have anticipated.*

As part of our growth strategy, we may develop additional hotels. Hotel development involves substantial risks, including that:


	•	actual development costs may exceed our budgeted or contracted amounts;

	•	construction delays may prevent us from opening hotels on schedule;

	•	we may not be able to obtain all necessary zoning, land use, building, occupancy and construction permits;

	•	our developed properties may not achieve our desired revenue or profit goals; and

	•	we may incur substantial development costs and then have to abandon a development project before completion

Risks Relating to Investments in Mortgages and Mezzanine Loans


	*Mortgage investments that are not United States government insured and non-investment grade mortgage assets involve risk of loss.*

As part of our business strategy, we originate and acquire lodging-related uninsured and non-investment grade mortgage loans and mortgage assets, including mezzanine loans. While holding these interests, we are subject to risks of borrower defaults, bankruptcies, fraud and losses and special hazard losses that are not covered by standard hazard insurance. Also, the costs of financing the mortgage loans could exceed the return on the mortgage loans. In the event of any default under mortgage loans held by us, we will bear the risk of loss of principal and non-payment of interest and fees to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the mortgage collateral and the principal amount of the mortgage loan. To the extent we suffer such losses with respect to our investments in mortgage loans, our value and the price of our securities may be adversely affected.


	*We invest in non-recourse loans, which will limit our recovery to the value of the mortgaged property.*

Our mortgage loan assets are generally non-recourse. With respect to our non-recourse mortgage loan assets, in the event of a borrower default, the specific mortgaged property and other assets, if any, pledged to secure the relevant mortgage loan, may be less than the amount owed under the mortgage loan. As to those mortgage loan assets that provide for recourse against the borrower and its assets generally, we cannot assure you that the recourse will provide a recovery in respect of a defaulted mortgage loan greater than the liquidation value of the mortgaged property securing that mortgage loan.


	*Interest rate fluctuations affect the value of our mortgage assets, net income and securities.*

Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations and other factors beyond our control. Interest rate fluctuations can adversely affect our income and value of our securities in many ways and present a variety of risks including the risk of variances in the yield curve, a mismatch between asset yields and borrowing rates, and changing prepayment rates.

Variances in the yield curve may reduce our net income. The relationship between short-term and longer-term interest rates is often referred to as the “yield curve.” Short-term interest rates are ordinarily lower than longer-term interest rates. If short-term interest rates rise disproportionately relative to longer-term interest rates (a flattening of the yield curve), our borrowing costs may increase more rapidly than the interest income earned on our assets. Additionally, to the extent cash flows from investments that return scheduled and unscheduled principal are reinvested in mortgage loans, the spread between the yields of the new investments and available borrowing rates may decline, which would likely decrease our net income. It is also possible that short-term interest rates may exceed longer-term interest rates (a yield curve inversion), in which event our borrowing costs may exceed our interest income and we could incur operating losses.

The effect of a mismatch between asset yields and borrowing rates is explained above under “Risks Related to our Business — An interest rate mismatch could occur between asset yields and borrowing rates, resulting in decreased yields on our investment portfolio.” The effect of mortgage prepayments are explained in the risk factor immediately below.


	*Prepayment rates on our mortgage loans may adversely affect our yields.*

The value of our mortgage loan assets may be affected by prepayment rates on investments. Prepayment rates are influenced by changes in current interest rates and a variety of economic, geographic and other factors beyond our control, and consequently, such prepayment rates cannot be predicted with certainty. To the extent we originate mortgage loans, we expect that such mortgage loans will have a measure of protection from prepayment in the form of prepayment lock-out periods or prepayment penalties. However, this protection may not be available with respect to investments that we acquire but do not originate. The majority of the mortgage loans assets we currently have in our investment portfolio have some combination of prepayment lock-out periods or prepayment penalties; however, we cannot assure you that these lock-out periods or penalties will sufficiently protect us from prepayment risk or that future mortgage loans we acquire will have prepayment protection mechanisms.

In periods of declining mortgage interest rates, prepayments on mortgages generally increase. If general interest rates decline as well, the proceeds of prepayments received during such periods are likely to be reinvested by us in assets yielding less than the yields on the investments that were prepaid. In addition, the market value of mortgage investments may, because of the risk of prepayment, benefit less from declining interest rates than from other fixed-income securities. Conversely, in periods of rising interest rates, prepayments on mortgages generally decrease, in which case we would not have the prepayment proceeds available to invest in assets with higher yields. Under certain interest rate and prepayment scenarios we may fail to fully recoup our cost of acquisition of certain investments.

In making any investment, we consider the expected yield of the investment and the factors that may influence the yield actually obtained on such investment. These considerations affect our decision whether to originate or purchase an investment and the price offered for that investment. No assurances can be given that we can make an accurate assessment of the yield to be produced by an investment. Many factors beyond our control are likely to influence the yield on the investments, including, but not limited to, competitive conditions in the local real estate market, local and general economic conditions and the quality of management of the underlying property. Our inability to accurately assess investment yields may result in our purchasing assets that do not perform as well as expected, which may adversely affect the price of our securities.


	*Volatility of values of mortgaged properties may adversely affect our mortgage loans.*

Lodging property values and net operating income derived from lodging properties are subject to volatility and may be affected adversely by a number of factors, including the risk factors described in this prospectus relating to general economic conditions, operating lodging properties and owning real estate investments. In the event its net operating income decreases, a borrower may have difficulty paying our mortgage loan, which could result in losses to us. In addition, decreases in property values reduce the value of the collateral and the potential proceeds available to a borrower to repay our mortgage loans, which could also cause us to suffer losses.


	*Mezzanine loans involve greater risks of loss than senior loans secured by income producing properties.*

We make and acquire mezzanine loans. These types of mortgage loans are considered to involve a higher degree of risk than long-term senior mortgage lending secured by income-producing real property due to a variety of factors, including the loan being entirely unsecured or, if secured, becoming unsecured as a result of foreclosure by the senior lender. We may not recover some or all of our investment in these loans. In addition, mezzanine loans may have higher loan-to-value ratios than conventional mortgage loans resulting in less equity in the property and increasing the risk of loss of principal.

Risks Related to the Real Estate Industry


	Mortgage debt obligations expose us to increased risk of property losses, which could harm our financial condition, cash flow and ability to satisfy our other debt obligations and pay dividends.

Incurring mortgage debt increases our risk of property losses because defaults on indebtedness secured by properties may result in foreclosure actions initiated by lenders and ultimately our loss of the property securing any loans for which we are in default. For tax purposes, a foreclosure of any of our properties would be treated as a sale of the property for a purchase price equal to the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage. If the outstanding balance of the debt secured by the mortgage exceeds our tax basis in the property, we would recognize taxable income on foreclosure but would not receive any cash proceeds. As a result, we may be required to identify and utilize other sources of cash for distributions to our stockholders of that income.

In addition, our default under any one of our mortgage debt obligations may result in a default on our other indebtedness. If this occurs, our financial condition, cash flow and ability to satisfy our other debt obligations or ability to pay dividends may be harmed.


	*Illiquidity of real estate investments could significantly impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties and harm our financial condition.*

Because real estate investments are relatively illiquid, our ability to promptly sell one or more properties or mortgage loans in our portfolio in response to changing economic, financial and investment conditions is limited. The real estate market is affected by many factors that are beyond our control, including:


	•	adverse changes in national and local economic and market conditions;

	•	changes in interest rates and in the availability, cost and terms of debt financing;

	•	changes in governmental laws and regulations, fiscal policies and zoning and other ordinances and costs of compliance with laws and regulations;

	•	the ongoing need for capital improvements, particularly in older structures;

	•	changes in operating expenses; and

	•	civil unrest, acts of war and natural disasters, including earthquakes and floods, which may result in uninsured and underinsured losses.

We cannot predict whether we will be able to sell any property or loan for the price or on the terms set by us, or whether any price or other terms offered by a prospective purchaser would be acceptable to us. We also cannot predict the length of time needed to find a willing purchaser and to close the sale of a property or loan. Because we intend to offer more flexible terms on our mortgage loans than some providers of commercial mortgage loans, we may have more difficulty selling or participating our loans to secondary purchasers than would these more traditional lenders.

We may be required to expend funds to correct defects or to make improvements before a property can be sold. We cannot assure you that we will have funds available to correct those defects or to make those improvements. In acquiring a property, we may agree to lock-out provisions that materially restrict us from selling that property for a period of time or impose other restrictions, such as a limitation on the amount of debt that can be placed or repaid on that property. These factors and any others that would impede our ability to respond to adverse changes in the performance of our properties could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition, as well as our ability to pay dividends to stockholders.


	*The costs of compliance with or liabilities under environmental laws may harm our operating results.*

Our properties and the properties underlying our loan assets may be subject to environmental liabilities. An owner of real property, or a lender with respect to a property that exercises control over the property, can

face liability for environmental contamination created by the presence or discharge of hazardous substances on the property. We may face liability regardless of:


	•	our knowledge of the contamination;

	•	the timing of the contamination;

	•	the cause of the contamination; or

	•	the party responsible for the contamination of the property.

There may be environmental problems associated with our properties or properties underlying our loan assets of which we are unaware. Some of our properties or the properties underlying our loan assets use, or may have used in the past, underground tanks for the storage of petroleum-based or waste products that could create a potential for release of hazardous substances. If environmental contamination exists on a property, we could become subject to strict, joint and several liability for the contamination if we own the property or if we foreclose on the property or otherwise have control over the property.

The presence of hazardous substances on a property we own or have made a loan with respect to may adversely affect our ability to sell or foreclose on the property, and we may incur substantial remediation costs. The discovery of environmental liabilities attached to our properties or the properties underlying our loan assets could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition and our ability to pay dividends to stockholders.

We have environmental insurance policies on each of our owned properties, and we intend to obtain environmental insurance for any other properties that we may acquire. However, if environmental liabilities are discovered during the underwriting of the insurance policies for any property that we may acquire in the future, we may be unable to obtain insurance coverage for the liabilities at commercially reasonable rates or at all, and we may experience losses. In addition, we generally do not require our borrowers to obtain environmental insurance on the properties they own that secure their loans from us.


	Our properties and the properties underlying our mortgage loans may contain or develop harmful mold, which could lead to liability for adverse health effects and costs of remediating the problem or reduce the ability of our borrowers to meet their debt obligations to us or reduce the value of the collateral for our loan assets.

When excessive moisture accumulates in buildings or on building materials, mold growth may occur, particularly if the moisture problem remains undiscovered or is not addressed over a period of time. Some molds may produce airborne toxins or irritants. Concern about indoor exposure to mold has been increasing as exposure to mold may cause a variety of adverse health effects and symptoms, including allergic or other reactions. As a result, the presence of significant mold at any of our properties or the properties underlying our loan assets could require us or our borrowers to undertake a costly remediation program to contain or remove the mold from the affected property. In addition, the presence of significant mold could expose us or our borrowers to liability from guests, employees and others if property damage or health concerns arise.


	Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and fire, safety and other regulations may require us or our borrowers to make unintended expenditures that adversely impact our operating results.

All of our properties and the properties underlying our mortgage loans are required to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, or the ADA. The ADA requires that “public accommodations” such as hotels be made accessible to people with disabilities. Compliance with the ADA requirements could require removal of access barriers and non-compliance could result in imposition of fines by the U.S. government or an award of damages to private litigants, or both. We or our borrowers may be required to expend funds to comply with the provisions of the ADA at our hotels or the hotels underlying our loan assets, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition and our ability to make distributions to stockholders. In addition, we and our borrowers are required to operate our properties in compliance with fire and safety regulations, building codes and other land use regulations, as they may be adopted by governmental

agencies and bodies and become applicable to our properties. We and our borrowers may be required to make substantial capital expenditures to comply with those requirements, and these expenditures could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition, as well as our ability to pay dividends to stockholders.


	*We may experience uninsured or underinsured losses.*

We have property and casualty insurance with respect to our properties and other insurance, in each case, with loss limits and coverages deemed reasonable by our management (and with the intent to satisfy the requirements of lenders and franchisors). In doing so, we have made decisions with respect to what deductibles, policy limits and terms are reasonable based on management’s experience, our risk profile, the loss history of our property managers and our properties, the nature of our properties and our businesses, our loss prevention efforts and the cost of insurance.

Various types of catastrophic losses may not be insurable or may not be economically insurable. In the event of a substantial loss, our insurance coverage may not cover the full current market value or replacement cost of our lost investment. Inflation, changes in building codes and ordinances, environmental considerations and other factors might cause insurance proceeds to be insufficient to fully replace or renovate a hotel after it has been damaged or destroyed. Accordingly, there can be no assurance (i) that the insurance coverages that we have obtained will fully protect us against insurable losses (i.e., losses may exceed coverage limits); (ii) that we will not incur large deductibles that will adversely affect our earnings; (iii) that we will not incur losses from risks that are not insurable or that are not economically insurable; or (iv) that current coverages will continue to be available at reasonable rates. We do not intend to maintain terrorism insurance on any of our properties. As a result, one or more large uninsured or underinsured losses could have a material adverse affect on us.

Each of our current lenders requires us to maintain certain insurance coverages, and we anticipate that future lenders will have similar requirements. We believe that we have complied with the insurance maintenance requirements under the current governing loan documents and we intend to comply with any such requirements in any future loan documents. However, a lender may disagree, in which case the lender could obtain additional coverages and seek payment from us, or declare us in default under the loan documents. In the former case, we could spend more for insurance than we otherwise deem reasonable or necessary, or, in the latter case, subject us to a foreclosure on hotels collateralizing one or more loans. In addition, a material casualty to one or more hotels collateralizing loans may result in (i) the insurance company applying to the outstanding loan balance insurance proceeds that otherwise would be available to repair the damage caused by the casualty, which would require us to fund the repairs through other sources, or (ii) the lender foreclosing on the hotels if there is a material loss that is not insured.

Risks Related to Our Status as a REIT


	*If we do not qualify as a REIT, we will be subject to tax as a regular corporation and face substantial tax liability.*

We operate so as to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. However, qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Internal Revenue Code provisions for which only a limited number of judicial or administrative interpretations exist. Even a technical or inadvertent mistake could jeopardize our REIT status. Furthermore, new tax legislation, administrative guidance or court decisions, in each instance potentially with retroactive effect, could make it more difficult or impossible for us to qualify as a REIT. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any tax year, then:


	•	we would be taxed as a regular domestic corporation, which, among other things, means being unable to deduct distributions to stockholders in computing taxable income and being subject to federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates;

	•	we would also be subject to federal alternative minimum tax and, possibly, increased state and local taxes;


	•	any resulting tax liability could be substantial and would reduce the amount of cash available for distribution to stockholders; and

	•	unless we were entitled to relief under applicable statutory provisions, we would be disqualified from treatment as a REIT for the subsequent four taxable years following the year during which we lost our qualification, and, thus, our cash available for distribution to stockholders would be reduced for each of the years during which we did not qualify as a REIT.

If we fail to qualify as a REIT, we will not be required to make distributions to stockholders to maintain our tax status. As a result of all of these factors, our failure to qualify as a REIT would impair our ability to raise capital, expand our business and make distributions to our stockholders and would adversely affect the value of our securities.


	*Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow.*

Even if we remain qualified for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets. For example:


	•	We will be required to pay tax on undistributed REIT taxable income.

	•	We may be required to pay the “alternative minimum tax” on our items of tax preference.

	•	If we have net income from the disposition of foreclosure property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business or other non-qualifying income from foreclosure property, we must pay tax on that income at the highest corporate rate.

	•	If we sell a property in a “prohibited transaction,” our gain from the sale would be subject to a 100% penalty tax. A “prohibited transaction” would be a sale of property, other than a foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business.

	•	Our taxable REIT subsidiary, Ashford TRS, is a fully taxable corporation and will be required to pay federal and state taxes on its income.


	*Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities.*

To qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our stock. We may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits.


	*Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively.*

The REIT provisions of the Internal Revenue Code may limit our ability to hedge mortgage securities and related borrowings by requiring us to limit our income in each year from qualified hedges, together with any other income not generated from qualified real estate assets, to no more than 25% of our gross income. In addition, we must limit our aggregate income from nonqualified hedging transactions, from our provision of services and from other non-qualifying sources to no more than 5% of our annual gross income. As a result, we may have to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques. This could result in greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to incur. If we were to violate the 25% or 5% limitations, we may have to pay a penalty tax equal to the amount of income in excess of those limitations, multiplied by a fraction intended to reflect our profitability. If we fail to satisfy the REIT gross income tests, unless our failure was due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect, we could lose our REIT status for federal income tax purposes.


	*Complying with REIT requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.*

To qualify as a REIT, we must also ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified REIT real estate assets. The remainder of our investment in securities (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities and qualified real estate assets) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 20% of the value of our total securities can be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must correct such failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter to avoid losing our REIT status and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.


	*Complying with REIT requirements may force us to borrow to make distributions to stockholders.*

As a REIT, we must distribute at least 90% of our annual taxable income (subject to certain adjustments) to our stockholders. To the extent that we satisfy the distribution requirement, but distribute less than 100% of our taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed taxable income. In addition, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax if the actual amount that we pay out to our stockholders in a calendar year is less than a minimum amount specified under federal tax laws.

From time to time, we may generate taxable income greater than our net income for financial reporting purposes due to, among other things, amortization of capitalized purchase premiums, or our taxable income may be greater than our cash flow available for distribution to stockholders. If we do not have other funds available in these situations, we could be required to borrow funds, sell investments at disadvantageous prices or find another alternative source of funds to make distributions sufficient to enable us to pay out enough of our taxable income to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% excise tax in a particular year. These alternatives could increase our costs or reduce our equity.


	*We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could reduce the market price of our securities.*

At any time, the federal income tax laws governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws may be amended. Any of those new laws or interpretations may take effect retroactively and could adversely affect us or you as a stockholder. On May 28, 2003, the President signed the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003, which we refer to as the Jobs and Growth Tax Act. Effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2002, the Jobs and Growth Tax Act reduced the maximum rate of tax applicable to individuals on dividend income from regular C corporations from 38.6% to 15.0%. This reduced substantially the so-called “double taxation” (that is, taxation at both the corporate and stockholder levels) that has generally applied to corporations that are not taxed as REITs. Generally, dividends from REITs will not qualify for the dividend tax reduction. The implementation of the Jobs and Growth Tax Act could cause individual investors to view stocks of non-REIT corporations as more attractive relative to shares of REITs than was the case previously because the dividends paid by non-REIT corporations would be subject to lower tax rates for the individual. We cannot predict whether in fact this will occur or whether, if it occurs, what the impact will be on the value of our securities.


	*Your investment in our securities has various federal, state and local income tax risks that could affect the value of your investment.*

Although the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code relevant to your investment in our securities are generally described in “Federal Income Tax Consequences of Our Status as a REIT,” we strongly urge you to consult your own tax advisor concerning the effects of federal, state and local income tax law on an investment in our securities, because of the complex nature of the tax rules applicable to REITs and their stockholders.

Risk Factors Related to Our Corporate Structure


	*There are no assurances of our ability to make distributions in the future.*

We intend to continue paying quarterly dividends and to make distributions to our stockholders in amounts such that all or substantially all of our taxable income in each year, subject to certain adjustments, is distributed. This, along with other factors, should enable us to qualify for the tax benefits accorded to a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. However, our ability to pay dividends may be adversely affected by the risk factors described in this prospectus. All distributions will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon our earnings, our financial condition, maintenance of our REIT status and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time. There are no assurances of our ability to pay dividends in the future. In addition, some of our distributions may include a return of capital.


	*Failure to maintain an exemption from the Investment Company Act would adversely affect our results of operations.*

We believe that we will conduct our business in a manner that allows us to avoid registration as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, or the 1940 Act. Under Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act, entities that are primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring “mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate” are not treated as investment companies. The SEC staff’s position generally requires us to maintain at least 55% of our assets directly in qualifying real estate interests to be able to rely on this exemption. To constitute a qualifying real estate interest under this 55% requirement, a real estate interest must meet various criteria. Mortgage securities that do not represent all of the certificates issued with respect to an underlying pool of mortgages may be treated as securities separate from the underlying mortgage loans and, thus, may not qualify for purposes of the 55% requirement. Our ownership of these mortgage securities, therefore, is limited by the provisions of the 1940 Act and SEC staff interpretive positions. There are no assurances that efforts to pursue our intended investment program will not be adversely affected by operation of these rules.


	Our charter does not permit ownership in excess of 9.8% of our capital stock, and attempts to acquire our capital stock in excess of the 9.8% limit without approval from our board of directors are void.

For the purpose of preserving our REIT qualification, our charter prohibits direct or constructive ownership by any person of more than 9.8% of the lesser of the total number or value of the outstanding shares of our common stock or more than 9.8% of the lesser of the total number or value of the outstanding shares of our preferred stock. Our charter’s constructive ownership rules are complex and may cause the outstanding stock owned by a group of related individuals or entities to be deemed to be constructively owned by one individual or entity. As a result, the acquisition of less than 9.8% of the outstanding stock by an individual or entity could cause that individual or entity to own constructively in excess of 9.8% of the outstanding stock, and thus be subject to our charter’s ownership limit. Any attempt to own or transfer shares of our common or preferred stock in excess of the ownership limit without the consent of the board of directors will be void, and could result in the shares being automatically transferred to a charitable trust.


	*Because provisions contained in Maryland law and our charter may have an anti-takeover effect, investors may be prevented from receiving a “control premium” for their shares.*

Provisions contained in our charter and Maryland general corporation law may have effects that delay, defer or prevent a takeover attempt, which may prevent stockholders from receiving a “control premium” for their shares. For example, these provisions may defer or prevent tender offers for our common stock or purchases of large blocks of our common stock, thereby limiting the opportunities for our stockholders to receive a premium for their common stock over then-prevailing market prices. These provisions include the following:


	•	Ownership limit: The ownership limit in our charter limits related investors, including, among other things, any voting group, from acquiring over 9.8% of our common stock without our permission.


	•	Classification of preferred stock: Our charter authorizes our board of directors to issue preferred stock in one or more classes and to establish the preferences and rights of any class of preferred stock issued. These actions can be taken without soliciting stockholder approval. The issuance of preferred stock could have the effect of delaying or preventing someone from taking control of us, even if a change in control were in our stockholders’ best interests.

Maryland statutory law provides that an act of a director relating to or affecting an acquisition or a potential acquisition of control of a corporation may not be subject to a higher duty or greater scrutiny than is applied to any other act of a director. Hence, directors of a Maryland corporation are not required to act in takeover situations under the same standards as apply in Delaware and other corporate jurisdictions.


	Offerings of debt securities, which would be senior to our common stock and any preferred stock upon liquidation, or equity securities, which would dilute our existing stockholders and may be senior to our common stock for the purposes of dividend distributions, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock and any preferred stock.

This prospectus contemplates offering of debt securities as well as preferred stock. Additionally, in the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making additional offerings of debt or equity securities, including commercial paper, medium-term notes, senior or subordinated notes and classes of preferred stock or common stock or classes of preferred units. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities or preferred units and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of shares of preferred stock or common stock, and holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock or preferred units and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive a distribution of our available assets prior to the holders of our common stock. Additional equity offerings may dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our common or preferred stock, or both. Our preferred stock or preferred units, if issued, could have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend payments that could limit our ability to make a dividend distribution to the holders of our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, our stockholders bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our securities and diluting their securities holdings in us.


	*Securities eligible for future sale may have adverse effects on the market price of our securities.*

We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of securities, or the availability of securities for future sales, on the market price of our outstanding securities .. Sales of substantial amounts of common stock (including up to (i) 6,439,575 shares of common stock which were issued in connection with our initial public offering or are currently issuable, at our option, in exchange for outstanding units in our operating partnership, (ii) 264,772 shares of common stock which were issued to certain of our directors, executive officers and employees of the company and its affiliates and are now fully vested and unrestricted, (iii) 529,945 restricted shares, issued to certain of our directors, executive officers and employees of the company and its affiliates, which, in the case of the executive officers and employees, are subject to continued employment by such officer or employee and (iv) restricted shares issuable to executive officers only if specified performance criteria are satisfied), or the perception that these sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices for our securities.

We also may issue from time to time additional shares of securities or units of our operating partnership in connection with the acquisition of properties and we may grant additional demand or piggyback registration rights in connection with these issuances. Sales of substantial amounts of our securities or the perception that these sales could occur may adversely affect the prevailing market price for our securities or may impair our ability to raise capital through a sale of additional debt or equity securities.


	*We depend on key personnel with long-standing business relationships, the loss of whom could threaten our ability to operate our business successfully.*

Our future success depends, to a significant extent, upon the continued services of our management team. In particular, the lodging industry experience of Messrs. Archie and Montgomery Bennett, Kessler, Brooks, Kimichik and Nunneley and the extent and nature of the relationships they have developed with hotel franchisors, operators and owners and hotel lending and other financial institutions are critically important to the success of our business. We do not maintain key person life insurance on any of our officers. Although these officers currently have employment agreements with us through 2006 (2007 for Mr. Montgomery Bennett), we cannot assure you of the continued employment of all of our officers. The loss of services of one or more members of our corporate management team could harm our business and our prospects.


	*An increase in market interest rates may have an adverse effect on the market price of our securities.*

One of the factors that investors may consider in deciding whether to buy or sell our securities is our dividend rate as a percentage of our share or unit price, relative to market interest rates. If market interest rates increase, prospective investors may desire a higher dividend or interest rate on our securities or seek securities paying higher dividends or interest. The market price of our securities likely will be based primarily on the earnings and return that we derive from our investments and income with respect to our properties and our related distributions to stockholders, and not from the market value or underlying appraised value of the properties or investments themselves. As a result, interest rate fluctuations and capital market conditions can affect the market price of our securities. For instance, if interest rates rise without an increase in our dividend rate, the market price of our common or preferred stock could decrease because potential investors may require a higher dividend yield on our common or preferred stock as market rates on interest-bearing securities, such as bonds, rise. In addition, rising interest rates would result in increased interest expense on our variable rate debt, thereby adversely affecting cash flow and our ability to service our indebtedness and pay dividends.

Our major policies, including our policies and practices with respect to investments, financing, growth, debt capitalization, REIT qualification and distributions, are determined by our board of directors. Although we have no present intention to do so, our board of directors may amend or revise these and other policies from time to time without a vote of our stockholders. Accordingly, our stockholders will have limited control over changes in our policies and the changes could harm our business, results of operations and share price.

Although we have adopted a policy pursuant to which we maintain the amount of indebtedness that we incur at no more than 60% of the aggregate investment in the hotels and debt instruments which we own, our board may amend or waive this debt policy and our other operating policies at any time without stockholder approval and without notice to stockholders. Changes in our strategy or investment or leverage policy could expose us to greater credit risk and interest rate risk or could result in a more leveraged balance sheet. We cannot predict the effect any changes to our current operating policies and strategies may have on our business, operating results and stock price. However, the effects may be adverse.

USE OF PROCEEDS

Unless otherwise indicated in a prospectus supplement, we expect to use the net proceeds from the sale of these securities for general corporate purposes.

RATIO OF EARNINGS TO FIXED CHARGES

Our historical ratio of earnings to fixed charges for the six month period ended June 30, 2004 was 1.87, and the amount of coverage deficiency for the period August 29, 2003 to December 31, 2003 was $1,843,084. For purposes of computing the ratio of earnings to fixed charges and the amount of coverage deficiency, earnings have been calculated by adding fixed charges, excluding capitalized interest, to income (loss) from continuing operations before gains or losses on property sales and (if applicable) minority interest in our

operating partnership. Fixed charges consist (if applicable) of interest costs, whether expensed or capitalized, the interest component of rental expense and amortization of debt issuance costs.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR CAPITAL STOCK

General

We were formed under the laws of the State of Maryland. Rights of our stockholders are governed by the Maryland General Corporation Law, or MGCL, our charter and our bylaws. The following is a summary of the material provisions of our capital stock. Copies of our charter and bylaws are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. See “Where You Can Find More Information.”

Authorized Stock

Our charter provides that we may issue up to 200 million shares of voting common stock, par value $.01 per share, and 50 million shares of preferred stock, par value $.01 per share.

Power to Issue Additional Shares of Our Common Stock and Preferred Stock

We believe that the power of our board of directors, without stockholder approval, to issue additional authorized but unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock and to classify or reclassify unissued shares of our common stock or preferred stock and thereafter to cause us to issue such classified or reclassified shares of stock provides us with flexibility in structuring possible future financings and acquisitions and in meeting other needs which might arise. The additional classes or series, as well as the common stock, will be available for issuance without further action by our stockholders, unless stockholder consent is required by applicable law or the rules of any stock exchange or automated quotation system on which our securities may be listed or traded. Although our board of directors does not intend to do so, it could authorize us to issue a class or series that could, depending upon the terms of the particular class or series, delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of control of our company that might involve a premium price for our stockholder or otherwise be in their best interest.

Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer

In order for us to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code or “Code,” not more than 50% of the value of the outstanding shares of our stock may be owned, actually or constructively, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities) during the last half of a taxable year (other than the first year for which an election to be a REIT has been made by us). In addition, if we, or one or more owners (actually or constructively) of 10% or more of us, actually or constructively owns 10% or more of a tenant of ours (or a tenant of any partnership in which we are a partner), the rent received by us (either directly or through any such partnership) from such tenant will not be qualifying income for purposes of the REIT gross income tests of the Code. Our stock must also be beneficially owned by 100 or more persons during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months or during a proportionate part of a shorter taxable year (other than the first year for which an election to be a REIT has been made by us).

Our charter contains restrictions on the ownership and transfer of our capital stock that are intended to assist us in complying with these requirements and continuing to qualify as a REIT. The relevant sections of our charter provide that, subject to the exceptions described below, no person or persons acting as a group may own, or be deemed to own by virtue of the attribution provisions of the Code, more than (i) 9.8% of the lesser of the number or value of shares of our common stock outstanding or (ii) 9.8% of the lesser of the number or value of the issued and outstanding preferred or other shares of any class or series of our stock. We refer to this restriction as the “ownership limit.”

The ownership attribution rules under the Code are complex and may cause stock owned actually or constructively by a group of related individuals and/or entities to be owned constructively by one individual or entity. As a result, the acquisition of less than 9.8% of our common stock (or the acquisition of an interest in

an entity that owns, actually or constructively, our common stock) by an individual or entity, could, nevertheless cause that individual or entity, or another individual or entity, to own constructively in excess of 9.8% of our outstanding common stock and thereby subject the common stock to the ownership limit.

Our board of directors may, in its sole discretion, waive the ownership limit with respect to one or more stockholders who would not be treated as “individuals” for purposes of the Code if it determines that such ownership will not cause any “individual’s” beneficial ownership of shares of our capital stock to jeopardize our status as a REIT (for example, by causing any tenant of ours to be considered a “related party tenant” for purposes of the REIT qualification rules).

As a condition of our waiver, our board of directors may require an opinion of counsel or IRS ruling satisfactory to our board of directors, and/or representations or undertakings from the applicant with respect to preserving our REIT status.

In connection with the waiver of the ownership limit or at any other time, our board of directors may decrease the ownership limit for all other persons and entities; provided, however, that the decreased ownership limit will not be effective for any person or entity whose percentage ownership in our capital stock is in excess of such decreased ownership limit until such time as such person or entity’s percentage of our capital stock equals or falls below the decreased ownership limit, but any further acquisition of our capital stock in excess of such percentage ownership of our capital stock will be in violation of the ownership limit. Additionally, the new ownership limit may not allow five or fewer “individuals” (as defined for purposes of the REIT ownership restrictions under the Code) to beneficially own more than 49.0% of the value of our outstanding capital stock.

Our charter provisions further prohibit:



	•	any person from actually or constructively owning shares of our capital stock that would result in us being “closely held” under Section 856(h) of the Code or otherwise cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT; and



	•	any person from transferring shares of our capital stock if such transfer would result in shares of our stock being beneficially owned by fewer than 100 persons (determined without reference to any rules of attribution).

Any person who acquires or attempts or intends to acquire beneficial or constructive ownership of shares of our common stock that will or may violate any of the foregoing restrictions on transferability and ownership will be required to give notice immediately to us and provide us with such other information as we may request in order to determine the effect of such transfer on our status as a REIT. The foregoing provisions on transferability and ownership will not apply if our board of directors determines that it is no longer in our best interests to qualify, or to continue to qualify, as a REIT.

Pursuant to our charter, if any purported transfer of our capital stock or any other event would otherwise result in any person violating the ownership limits or the other restrictions in our charter, then any such purported transfer will be void and of no force or effect with respect to the purported transferee or owner (collectively referred to hereinafter as the “purported owner”) as to that number of shares in excess of the ownership limit (rounded up to the nearest whole share). The number of shares in excess of the ownership limit will be automatically transferred to, and held by, a trust for the exclusive benefit of one or more charitable organizations selected by us. The trustee of the trust will be designated by us and must be unaffiliated with us and with any purported owner. The automatic transfer will be effective as of the close of business on the business day prior to the date of the violative transfer or other event that results in a transfer to the trust. Any dividend or other distribution paid to the purported owner, prior to our discovery that the shares had been automatically transferred to a trust as described above, must be repaid to the trustee upon demand for distribution to the beneficiary of the trust and all dividends and other distributions paid by us with respect to such “excess” shares prior to the sale by the trustee of such shares shall be paid to the trustee for the beneficiary. If the transfer to the trust as described above is not automatically effective, for any reason, to prevent violation of the applicable ownership limit, then our charter provides that the transfer of the excess shares will be void. Subject to Maryland law, effective as of the date that such excess shares have been

transferred to the trust, the trustee shall have the authority (at the trustee’s sole discretion and subject to applicable law) (i) to rescind as void any vote cast by a purported owner prior to our discovery that such shares have been transferred to the trust and (ii) to recast such vote in accordance with the desires of the trustee acting for the benefit of the beneficiary of the trust, provided that if we have already taken irreversible action, then the trustee shall not have the authority to rescind and recast such vote.

Shares of our capital stock transferred to the trustee are deemed offered for sale to us, or our designee, at a price per share equal to the lesser of (i) the price paid by the purported owner for the shares (or, if the event which resulted in the transfer to the trust did not involve a purchase of such shares of our capital stock at market price, the market price on the day of the event which resulted in the transfer of such shares of our capital stock to the trust) and (ii) the market price on the date we, or our designee, accepts such offer. We have the right to accept such offer until the trustee has sold the shares of our capital stock held in the trust pursuant to the clauses discussed below. Upon a sale to us, the interest of the charitable beneficiary in the shares sold terminates and the trustee must distribute the net proceeds of the sale to the purported owner and any dividends or other distributions held by the trustee with respect to such capital stock will be paid to the charitable beneficiary.

If we do not buy the shares, the trustee must, within 20 days of receiving notice from us of the transfer of shares to the trust, sell the shares to a person or entity designated by the trustee who could own the shares without violating the ownership limits. After that, the trustee must distribute to the purported owner an amount equal to the lesser of (i) the net price paid by the purported owner for the shares (or, if the event which resulted in the transfer to the trust did not involve a purchase of such shares at market price, the market price on the day of the event which resulted in the transfer of such shares of our capital stock to the trust) and (ii) the net sales proceeds received by the trust for the shares. Any proceeds in excess of the amount distributable to the purported owner will be distributed to the beneficiary.

Our charter also provides that “Benefit Plan Investors” (as defined in our charter) may not hold, individually or in the aggregate, 25% or more of the value of any class or series of shares of our capital stock to the extent such class or series does not constitute “Publicly Offered Securities” (as defined in our charter).

All persons who own, directly or by virtue of the attribution provisions of the Code, more than 5% (or such other percentage as provided in the regulations promulgated under the Code) of the lesser of the number or value of the shares of our outstanding capital stock must give written notice to us within 30 days after the end of each calendar year. In addition, each stockholder will, upon demand, be required to disclose to us in writing such information with respect to the direct, indirect and constructive ownership of shares of our stock as our board of directors deems reasonably necessary to comply with the provisions of the Code applicable to a REIT, to comply with the requirements or any taxing authority or governmental agency or to determine any such compliance.

All certificates representing shares of our capital stock bear a legend referring to the restrictions described above.

These ownership limits could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of control of our company that might involve a premium price over the then prevailing market price for the holders of some, or a majority, of our outstanding shares of common stock or which such holders might believe to be otherwise in their best interest.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our common stock and preferred stock is Equiserve Trust Company, N.A.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR COMMON STOCK

The following description of our common stock sets forth certain general terms and provisions of our common stock to which any prospectus supplement may relate, including a prospectus supplement providing

that common stock will be issuable upon conversion or exchange of our debt securities or preferred stock or upon the exercise of warrants to purchase our common stock.

All shares of our common stock covered by this prospectus will be duly authorized, fully paid and nonassessable. Subject to the preferential rights of any other class or series of stock and to the provisions of the charter regarding the restrictions on transfer of stock, holders of shares of our common stock are entitled to receive dividends on such stock when, as and if authorized by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor and declared by us and to share ratably in the assets of our company legally available for distribution to our stockholders in the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up after payment of or adequate provision for all known debts and liabilities of our company, including the preferential rights on dissolution of any class or classes of preferred stock.

Subject to the provisions of our charter regarding the restrictions on transfer of stock, each outstanding share of our common stock entitles the holder to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election of directors and, except as provided with respect to any other class or series of stock, the holders of such shares will possess the exclusive voting power. There is no cumulative voting in the election of our board of directors, which means that the holders of a plurality of the outstanding shares of our common stock can elect all of the directors then standing for election and the holders of the remaining shares will not be able to elect any directors.

Holders of shares of our common stock have no preference, conversion, exchange, sinking fund, redemption or appraisal rights and have no preemptive rights to subscribe for any securities of our company. Subject to the provisions of the charter regarding the restrictions on transfer of stock, shares of our common stock will have equal dividend, liquidation and other rights.

Under the MGCL, a Maryland corporation generally cannot dissolve, amend its charter, merge, consolidate, transfer all or substantially all of its assets, engage in a statutory share exchange or engage in similar transactions outside the ordinary course of business unless declared advisable by the board of directors and approved by the affirmative vote of stockholders holding at least two-thirds of the shares entitled to vote on the matter unless a lesser percentage (but not less than a majority of all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter) is set forth in the corporation’s charter. Our charter does not provide for a lesser percentage for these matters. However, Maryland law permits a corporation to transfer all or substantially all of its assets without the approval of the stockholders of the corporation to one or more persons if all of the equity interests of the person or persons are owned, directly or indirectly, by the corporation. Because operating assets may be held by a corporation’s subsidiaries, as in our situation, this may mean that a subsidiary of a corporation can transfer all of its assets without a vote of the corporation’s stockholders.

Our charter authorizes our board of directors to reclassify any unissued shares of our common stock into other classes or series of classes of stock and to establish the number of shares in each class or series and to set the preferences, conversion and other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption for each such class or series.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR PREFERRED STOCK

Our charter authorizes our board of directors to classify any unissued shares of preferred stock and to reclassify any previously classified but unissued shares of any series. Prior to issuance of shares of each series, our board of directors is required by the MGCL and our charter to set the terms, preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms or conditions of redemption for each such series. Thus, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of shares of preferred stock with terms and conditions which could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a transaction or a change of control of our company that might involve a premium price for holders of our common stock or otherwise be in their best interest. As of the date hereof, no shares of preferred stock are outstanding. Our preferred stock will, when issued, be fully paid and nonassessable and will not have, or be subject to, any preemptive or similar rights.

The prospectus supplement relating to the series of preferred stock offered by that supplement will describe the specific terms of those securities, including:



	•	the title and stated value of that preferred stock;



	•	the number of shares of that preferred stock offered, the liquidation preference per share and the offering price of that preferred stock;



	•	the dividend rate(s), period(s) and payment date(s) or method(s) of calculation thereof applicable to that preferred stock;



	•	whether dividends will be cumulative or non-cumulative and, if cumulative, the date from which dividends on that preferred stock will accumulate;



	•	the voting rights applicable to that preferred stock;



	•	the procedures for any auction and remarketing, if any, for that preferred stock;



	•	the provisions for a sinking fund, if any, for that preferred stock;



	•	the provisions for redemption, if applicable, of that preferred stock;



	•	any listing of that preferred stock on any securities exchange;



	•	the terms and conditions, if applicable, upon which that preferred stock will be convertible into shares of our common stock, including the conversion price (or manner of calculation of the conversion price) and conversion period;



	•	a discussion of federal income tax considerations applicable to that preferred stock;



	•	any limitations on issuance of any series of preferred stock ranking senior to or on a parity with that series of preferred stock as to dividend rights and rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs;



	•	in addition to those limitations described above under “DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK — Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer,” any other limitations on actual and constructive ownership and restrictions on transfer, in each case as may be appropriate to preserve our status as a REIT; and



	•	any other specific terms, preferences, rights, limitations or restrictions of that preferred stock.

Rank

Unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, the preferred stock will, with respect to dividend rights and rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs rank:



	•	senior to all classes or series of common stock and to all equity securities ranking junior to the preferred stock with respect to dividend rights or rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs;



	•	on a parity with all equity securities issued by us the terms of which specifically provide that those equity securities rank on a parity with the preferred stock with respect to dividend rights or rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs; and



	•	junior to all equity securities issued by us the terms of which specifically provide that those equity securities rank senior to the preferred stock with respect to dividend rights or rights upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs.

The term “equity securities” does not include convertible debt securities.

Dividends

Subject to the preferential rights of any other class or series of stock and to the provisions of the charter regarding the restrictions on transfer of stock, holders of shares of our preferred stock will be entitled to receive

dividends on such stock when, as and if authorized by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor and declared by us, at rates and on dates as will be set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Dividends on any series or class of our preferred stock may be cumulative or noncumulative, as provided in the applicable prospectus supplement. Dividends, if cumulative, will be cumulative from and after the date set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement. If our board of directors fails to authorize a dividend payable on a dividend payment date on any series or class of preferred stock for which dividends are noncumulative, then the holders of that series or class of preferred stock will have no right to receive a dividend in respect of the dividend period ending on that dividend payment date, and we will have no obligation to pay the dividend accrued for that period, whether or not dividends on such series or class are declared or paid for any future period.

If any shares of preferred stock of any series or class are outstanding, no dividends may be authorized or paid or set apart for payment on the preferred stock of any other series or class ranking, as to dividends, on a parity with or junior to the preferred stock of that series or class for any period unless:



	•	the series or class of preferred stock has a cumulative dividend, and full cumulative dividends have been or contemporaneously are authorized and paid or authorized and a sum sufficient for the payment of those dividends is set apart for payment on the preferred stock of that series or class for all past dividend periods and the then current dividend period; or



	•	the series or class of preferred stock does not have a cumulative dividend, and full dividends for the then current dividend period have been or contemporaneously are authorized and paid or authorized and a sum sufficient for the payment of those dividends is set apart for the payment on the preferred stock of that series or class.

When dividends are not paid in full (or a sum sufficient for the full payment is not set apart) upon the shares of preferred stock of any series or class and the shares of any other series or class of preferred stock ranking on a parity as to dividends with the preferred stock of that series or class, then all dividends authorized on shares of preferred stock of that series or class and any other series or class of preferred stock ranking on a parity as to dividends with that preferred stock shall be authorized pro rata so that the amount of dividends authorized per share on the preferred stock of that series or class and other series or class of preferred stock will in all cases bear to each other the same ratio that accrued dividends per share on the shares of preferred stock of that series or class (which will not include any accumulation in respect of unpaid dividends for prior dividend periods if the preferred stock does not have a cumulative dividend) and that other series or class of preferred stock bear to each other. No interest, or sum of money in lieu of interest, will be payable in respect of any dividend payment or payments on preferred stock of that series or class that may be in arrears.

Redemption

We may have the right or may be required to redeem one or more series of preferred stock, in whole or in part, in each case upon the terms, if any, and at the time and at the redemption prices set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement.

If a series of preferred stock is subject to mandatory redemption, we will specify in the applicable prospectus supplement the number of shares we are required to redeem, when those redemptions start, the redemption price, and any other terms and conditions affecting the redemption. The redemption price will include all accrued and unpaid dividends, except in the case of noncumulative preferred stock. The redemption price may be payable in cash or other property, as specified in the applicable prospectus supplement. If the redemption price for preferred stock of any series or class is payable only from the net proceeds of the issuance of our stock, the terms of that preferred stock may provide that, if no such stock shall have been issued or to the extent the net proceeds from any issuance are insufficient to pay in full the aggregate redemption price then due, that preferred stock shall automatically and mandatorily be converted into shares of our applicable stock pursuant to conversion provisions specified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Liquidation Preference

Upon any voluntary or involuntary liquidation or dissolution of us or winding up of our affairs, then, before any distribution or payment will be made to the holders of common stock or any other series or class of stock ranking junior to any series or class of the preferred stock in the distribution of assets upon any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs, the holders of that series or class of preferred stock will be entitled to receive out of our assets legally available for distribution to shareholders liquidating distributions in the amount of the liquidation preference per share (set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement), plus an amount equal to all dividends accrued and unpaid on the preferred stock (which will not include any accumulation in respect of unpaid dividends for prior dividend periods if the preferred stock does not have a cumulative dividend). After payment of the full amount of the liquidating distributions to which they are entitled, the holders of preferred stock will have no right or claim to any of our remaining assets.

If, upon any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the legally available assets are insufficient to pay the amount of the liquidating distributions on all outstanding shares of any series or class of preferred stock and the corresponding amounts payable on all shares of other classes or series of our stock of ranking on a parity with that series or class of preferred stock in the distribution of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up, then the holders of that series or class of preferred stock and all other classes or series of capital stock will share ratably in any distribution of assets in proportion to the full liquidating distributions to which they would otherwise be respectively entitled.

If liquidating distributions have been made in full to all holders of any series or class of preferred stock, our remaining assets will be distributed among the holders of any other classes or series of stock ranking junior to that series or class of preferred stock upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up, according to their respective rights and preferences and in each case according to their respective number of shares. For these purposes, the consolidation or merger of us with or into any other entity, or the sale, lease, transfer or conveyance of all or substantially all of our property or business, will not be deemed to constitute a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of our affairs.

Voting Rights

Holders of preferred stock will not have any voting rights, except as set forth below or as indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Unless provided otherwise for any series or class of preferred stock, so long as any shares of preferred stock of a series or class remain outstanding, we will not, without the affirmative vote or consent of the holders of at least a majority of the shares of that series or class of preferred stock outstanding at the time, given in person or by proxy, either in writing or at a meeting (such series or class voting separately as a class):



	•	authorize or create, or increase the authorized or issued amount of, any class or series of stock ranking prior to that series or class of preferred stock with respect to payment of dividends or the distribution of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up or reclassify any authorized stock into any of those shares, or create, authorize or issue any obligation or security convertible into or evidencing the right to purchase any of those shares; or



	•	amend, alter or repeal the provisions of our charter or articles supplementary for such series or class of preferred stock, whether by merger, consolidation or otherwise, so as to materially and adversely affect any right, preference, privilege or voting power of that series or class of preferred stock or the holders of the preferred stock.

However, any increase in the amount of the authorized preferred stock or the creation or issuance of any other series or class of preferred stock, or any increase in the amount of authorized shares of such series or class or any other series or class of preferred stock, in each case ranking on a parity with or junior to the preferred stock of that series or class with respect to payment of dividends or the distribution of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up, will not be deemed to materially and adversely affect such rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers.

These voting provisions will not apply if, at or prior to the time when the act with respect to which that vote would otherwise be required will be effected, all outstanding shares of that series or class of preferred stock have been redeemed or called for redemption upon proper notice and sufficient funds have been deposited in trust to effect that redemption.

Conversion Rights

The terms and conditions, if any, upon which shares of any series or class of preferred stock are convertible into shares of common stock will be set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement. The terms will include:



	•	the number of shares of common stock into which the preferred stock is convertible;



	•	the conversion price (or manner of calculation of the conversion price);



	•	the conversion period;



	•	provisions as to whether conversion will be at the option of the holders of the preferred stock or us,



	•	the events requiring an adjustment of the conversion price; and



	•	provisions affecting conversion in the event of the redemption of the preferred stock.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR DEBT SECURITIES

The following description, together with the additional information we include in any applicable prospectus supplements, summarizes the material terms and provisions of the debt securities that we may offer under this prospectus. While the terms we have summarized below will apply generally to any future debt securities we may offer, we will describe the particular terms of any debt securities that we may offer in more detail in the applicable prospectus supplement. If we indicate in a prospectus supplement, the terms of any debt securities we offer under that prospectus supplement may differ from the terms we describe below.

The debt securities will be our direct unsecured general obligations and may include debentures, notes, bonds or other evidences of indebtedness. The debt securities will be either senior debt securities or subordinated debt securities. The debt securities will be issued under one or more separate indentures. Senior debt securities will be issued under a senior indenture, and subordinated debt securities will be issued under a subordinated indenture. We use the term “indentures” to refer to both the senior indenture and the subordinated indenture. The indentures will be qualified under the Trust Indenture Act. We use the term “trustee” to refer to either the senior trustee or the subordinated trustee, as applicable.

The following summaries of material provisions of the debt securities and indentures are subject to, and qualified in their entirety by reference to, all the provisions of the indenture applicable to a particular series of debt securities.


	*General*

We will describe in each prospectus supplement the following terms relating to a series of debt securities:



	•	the title;



	•	any limit on the amount that may be issued;



	•	whether or not we will issue the series of debt securities in global form, the terms and who the depository will be;



	•	the maturity date;



	•	the annual interest rate, which may be fixed or variable, or the method for determining the rate and the date interest will begin to accrue, the dates interest will be payable and the regular record dates for interest payment dates or the method for determining such dates;



	•	whether or not the debt securities will be secured or unsecured, and the terms of any secured debt;



	•	the terms of the subordination of any series of subordinated debt;



	•	the place where payments will be payable;



	•	our right, if any, to defer payment of interest and the maximum length of any such deferral period;



	•	the date, if any, after which, and the price at which, we may, at our option, redeem the series of debt securities pursuant to any optional redemption provisions;



	•	the date, if any, on which, and the price at which we are obligated, pursuant to any mandatory sinking fund provisions or otherwise, to redeem, or at the holder’s option to purchase, the series of debt securities;



	•	whether the indenture will restrict our ability to pay dividends, or will require us to maintain any asset ratios or reserves;



	•	whether we will be restricted from incurring any additional indebtedness;



	•	a discussion on any material or special United States federal income tax considerations applicable to the debt securities;



	•	the denominations in which we will issue the series of debt securities, if other than denominations of $1,000 and any integral multiple thereof; and



	•	any other specific terms, preferences, rights or limitations of, or restrictions on, the debt securities.

Conversion or Exchange Rights

We will set forth in the prospectus supplement the terms on which a series of debt securities may be convertible into or exchangeable for shares of common stock or other securities of ours. We will include provisions as to whether conversion or exchange is mandatory, at the option of the holder or at our option. We may include provisions pursuant to which the number of shares of common stock or other securities of ours that the holders of the series of debt securities receive would be subject to adjustment.

Consolidation, Merger or Sale

The indentures do not contain any covenant which restricts our ability to merge or consolidate, or sell, convey, transfer or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets. However, any successor to or acquirer of such assets must assume all of our obligations under the indentures or the debt securities, as appropriate.

Events of Default Under the Indenture

The following are events of default under the indentures with respect to any series of debt securities that we may issue:



	•	if we fail to pay interest when due and our failure continues for a number of days to be stated in the indenture and the time for payment has not been extended or deferred;



	•	if we fail to pay the principal, or premium, if any, when due and the time for payment has not been extended or delayed;



	•	if we fail to observe or perform any other covenant contained in the debt securities or the indentures, other than a covenant specifically relating to another series of debt securities, and our failure continues for a number of days to be stated in the indenture after we receive notice from the trustee or holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of the applicable series; and



	•	if specified events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization occur as to us.

If an event of default with respect to debt securities of any series occurs and is continuing, the trustee or the holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series, by notice to us in writing, and to the trustee if notice is given by such holders, may declare the unpaid principal of, premium, if any, and accrued interest, if any, due and payable immediately.

The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of an affected series may waive any default or event of default with respect to the series and its consequences, except defaults or events of default regarding payment of principal, premium, if any, or interest, unless we have cured the default or event of default in accordance with the indenture. Any waiver shall cure the default or event of default.

Subject to the terms of the indentures, if an event of default under an indenture shall occur and be continuing, the trustee will be under no obligation to exercise any of its rights or powers under such indenture at the request or direction of any of the holders of the applicable series of debt securities, unless such holders have offered the trustee reasonable indemnity. The holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of any series will have the right to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to the trustee, or exercising any trust or power conferred on the trustee, with respect to the debt securities of that series, provided that:



	•	the direction so given by the holder is not in conflict with any law or the applicable indenture; and



	•	subject to its duties under the Trust Indenture Act, the trustee need not take any action that might involve it in personal liability or might be unduly prejudicial to the holders not involved in the proceeding.

A holder of the debt securities of any series will only have the right to institute a proceeding under the indentures or to appoint a receiver or trustee, or to seek other remedies if:



	•	the holder has given written notice to the trustee of a continuing event of default with respect to that series;



	•	the holders of at least 25% in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series have made written request, and such holders have offered reasonable indemnity to the trustee to institute the proceeding as trustee; and



	•	the trustee does not institute the proceeding, and does not receive from the holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of that series other conflicting directions within 60 days after the notice, request and offer.

These limitations do not apply to a suit instituted by a holder of debt securities if we default in the payment of the principal, premium, if any, or interest on, the debt securities.

We will periodically file statements with the trustee regarding our compliance with specified covenants in the indentures.

Modification of Indenture; Waiver

We and the trustee may change an indenture without the consent of any holders with respect to specific matters, including:



	•	to fix any ambiguity, defect or inconsistency in the indenture; and



	•	to change anything that does not materially adversely affect the interests of any holder of debt securities of any series.

In addition, under the indentures, the rights of holders of a series of debt securities may be changed by us and the trustee with the written consent of the holders of at least a majority in aggregate principal amount of the outstanding debt securities of each series that is affected. However, we and the trustee may only make the following changes with the consent of each holder of any outstanding debt securities affected:


	•	extending the fixed maturity of the series of debt securities;



	•	reducing the principal amount, reducing the rate of or extending the time of payment of interest, or any premium payable upon the redemption of any debt securities; or



	•	reducing the percentage of debt securities, the holders of which are required to consent to any amendment.

Discharge

Each indenture provides that we can elect to be discharged from our obligations with respect to one or more series of debt securities, except for obligations to:



	•	register the transfer or exchange of debt securities of the series;



	•	replace stolen, lost or mutilated debt securities of the series;



	•	maintain paying agencies;



	•	hold monies for payment in trust;



	•	compensate and indemnify the trustee;



	•	and appoint any successor trustee.

In order to exercise our rights to be discharged, we must deposit with the trustee money or government obligations sufficient to pay all the principal of, any premium, if any, and interest on, the debt securities of the series on the dates payments are due.

Form, Exchange and Transfer

We will issue the debt securities of each series only in fully registered form without coupons and, unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement, in denominations of $1,000 and any integral multiple thereof. The indentures provide that we may issue debt securities of a series in temporary or permanent global form and as book-entry securities that will be deposited with, or on behalf of, The Depository Trust Company or another depository named by us and identified in a prospectus supplement with respect to that series.

At the option of the holder, subject to the terms of the indentures and the limitations applicable to global securities described in the applicable prospectus supplement, the holder of the debt securities of any series can exchange the debt securities for other debt securities of the same series, in any authorized denomination and of like tenor and aggregate principal amount.

Subject to the terms of the indentures and the limitations applicable to global securities set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders of the debt securities may present the debt securities for exchange or for registration of transfer, duly endorsed or with the form of transfer endorsed thereon duly executed if so required by us or the security registrar, at the office of the security registrar or at the office of any transfer agent designated by us for this purpose. Unless otherwise provided in the debt securities that the holder presents for transfer or exchange, we will make no service charge for any registration of transfer or exchange, but we may require payment of any taxes or other governmental charges.

We will name in the applicable prospectus supplement the security registrar, and any transfer agent in addition to the security registrar, that we initially designate for any debt securities. We may at any time designate additional transfer agents or rescind the designation of any transfer agent or approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts, except that we will be required to maintain a transfer agent in each place of payment for the debt securities of each series.

If we elect to redeem the debt securities of any series, we will not be required to:


	•	issue, register the transfer of, or exchange any debt securities of that series during a period beginning at the opening of business 15 days before the day of mailing of a notice of redemption of any debt



		securities that may be selected for redemption and ending at the close of business on the day of the mailing; or



	•	register the transfer of or exchange any debt securities so selected for redemption, in whole or in part, except the unredeemed portion of any debt securities we are redeeming in part.

Information Concerning the Trustee

The trustee, other than during the occurrence and continuance of an event of default under an indenture, undertakes to perform only those duties as are specifically set forth in the applicable indenture. Upon an event of default under an indenture, the trustee must use the same degree of care as a prudent person would exercise or use in the conduct of his or her own affairs. Subject to this provision, the trustee is under no obligation to exercise any of the powers given it by the indentures at the request of any holder of debt securities unless it is offered reasonable security and indemnity against the costs, expenses and liabilities that it might incur.

Payment and Paying Agents

Unless we otherwise indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will make payment of the interest on any debt securities on any interest payment date to the person in whose name the debt securities, or one or more predecessor securities, are registered at the close of business on the regular record date for the interest.

We will pay principal of and any premium and interest on the debt securities of a particular series at the office of the paying agents designated by us, except that unless we otherwise indicate in the applicable prospectus supplement, we will make interest payments by check which we will mail to the holder. Unless we otherwise indicate in a prospectus supplement, we will designate the corporate trust office of the trustee in the City of New York as our sole paying agent for payments with respect to debt securities of each series. We will name in the applicable prospectus supplement any other paying agents that we initially designate for the debt securities of a particular series. We will maintain a paying agent in each place of payment for the debt securities of a particular series.

All money we pay to a paying agent or the trustee for the payment of the principal of or any premium or interest on any debt securities which remains unclaimed at the end of two years after such principal, premium or interest has become due and payable will be repaid to us, and the holder of the security thereafter may look only to us for payment thereof.

Governing Law

The indentures and the debt securities will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, except to the extent that the Trust Indenture Act is applicable.

Subordination of Subordinated Notes

The subordinated notes will be unsecured and will be subordinate and junior in priority of payment to certain of our other indebtedness to the extent described in a prospectus supplement. The subordinated indenture does not limit the amount of subordinated notes which we may issue. It also does not limit us from issuing any other secured or unsecured debt.

DESCRIPTION OF OUR WARRANTS

This section describes the general terms and provisions of our securities warrants. The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the specific terms of the securities warrants offered through that prospectus supplement as well as any general terms described in this section that will not apply to those securities warrants.

We may issue securities warrants for the purchase of our debt securities, preferred stock, or common stock. We may issue warrants independently or together with other securities, and they may be attached to or

separate from the other securities. Each series of securities warrants will be issued under a separate warrant agreement that we will enter into with a bank or trust company, as warrant agent, as detailed in the applicable prospectus supplement. The warrant agent will act solely as our agent in connection with the securities warrants and will not assume any obligation, or agency or trust relationship, with you.

The prospectus supplement relating to a particular issue of securities warrants will describe the terms of those securities warrants, including, where applicable:



	•	the aggregate number of the securities covered by the warrant;



	•	the designation, amount and terms of the securities purchasable upon exercise of the warrant;



	•	the exercise price for our debt securities, the amount of debt securities upon exercise you will receive, and a description of that series of debt securities;



	•	the exercise price for shares of our preferred stock, the number of shares of preferred stock to be received upon exercise, and a description of that series of our preferred stock;



	•	the exercise price for shares of our common stock and the number of shares of common stock to be received upon exercise;



	•	the expiration date for exercising the warrant;



	•	the minimum or maximum amount of warrants that may be exercised at any time;



	•	a discussion of U.S. federal income tax consequences; and



	•	any other material terms of the securities warrants.

After the warrants expire they will become void. The prospectus supplement will describe how to exercise securities warrants. A holder must exercise warrants for our preferred stock or common stock through payment in U.S. dollars. All securities warrants will be issued in registered form. The prospectus supplement may provide for the adjustment of the exercise price of the securities warrants.

Until a holder exercises warrants to purchase our debt securities, preferred stock, or common stock, that holder will not have any rights as a holder of our debt securities, preferred stock, or common stock by virtue of ownership of warrants.

BOOK-ENTRY SECURITIES

The securities offered by means of this prospectus may be issued in whole or in part in book-entry form, meaning that beneficial owners of the securities will not receive certificates representing their ownership interests in the securities, except in the event the book-entry system for the securities is discontinued. Securities issued in book entry form will be evidenced by one or more global securities that will be deposited with, or on behalf of, a depositary identified in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to the securities. We expect that The Depository Trust Company will serve as depository. Unless and until it is exchanged in whole or in part for the individual securities represented by that security, a global security may not be transferred except as a whole by the depository for the global security to a nominee of that depository or by a nominee of that depository to that depository or another nominee of that depository or by the depository or any nominee of that depository to a successor depository or a nominee of that successor. Global securities may be issued in either registered or bearer form and in either temporary or permanent form. The specific terms of the depositary arrangement with respect to a class or series of securities that differ from the terms described here will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we anticipate that the provisions described below will apply to depository arrangements.

Upon the issuance of a global security, the depository for the global security or its nominee will credit on its book-entry registration and transfer system the respective principal amounts of the individual securities represented by that global security to the accounts of persons that have accounts with such depository, who are

called “participants.” Those accounts will be designated by the underwriters, dealers or agents with respect to the securities or by us if the securities are offered and sold directly by us. Ownership of beneficial interests in a global security will be limited to the depository’s participants or persons that may hold interests through those participants. Ownership of beneficial interests in the global security will be shown on, and the transfer of that ownership will be effected only through, records maintained by the applicable depository or its nominee (with respect to beneficial interests of participants) and records of the participants (with respect to beneficial interests of persons who hold through participants). The laws of some states require that certain purchasers of securities take physical delivery of such securities in definitive form. These limits and laws may impair the ability to own, pledge or transfer beneficial interest in a global security.

So long as the depository for a global security or its nominee is the registered owner of such global security, that depository or nominee, as the case may be, will be considered the sole owner or holder of the securities represented by that global security for all purposes under the applicable indenture or other instrument defining the rights of a holder of the securities. Except as provided below or in the applicable prospectus supplement, owners of beneficial interest in a global security will not be entitled to have any of the individual securities of the series represented by that global security registered in their names, will not receive or be entitled to receive physical delivery of any such securities in definitive form and will not be considered the owners or holders of that security under the applicable indenture or other instrument defining the rights of the holders of the securities.

Payments of amounts payable with respect to individual securities represented by a global security registered in the name of a depository or its nominee will be made to the depository or its nominee, as the case may be, as the registered owner of the global security representing those securities. None of us, our officers and directors or any trustee, paying agent or security registrar for an individual series of securities will have any responsibility or liability for any aspect of the records relating to or payments made on account of beneficial ownership interests in the global security for such securities or for maintaining, supervising or reviewing any records relating to those beneficial ownership interests.

We expect that the depository for a series of securities offered by means of this prospectus or its nominee, upon receipt of any payment of principal, premium, interest, dividend or other amount in respect of a permanent global security representing any of those securities, will immediately credit its participants’ accounts with payments in amounts proportionate to their respective beneficial interests in the principal amount of that global security for those securities as shown on the records of that depository or its nominee. We also expect that payments by participants to owners of beneficial interests in that global security held through those participants will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is the case with securities held for the account of customers in bearer form or registered in “street name.” Those payments will be the responsibility of these participants.

If a depository for a series of securities is at any time unwilling, unable or ineligible to continue as depository and a successor depository is not appointed by us within 90 days, we will issue individual securities of that series in exchange for the global security representing that series of securities. In addition, we may, at any time and in our sole discretion, subject to any limitations described in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to those securities, determine not to have any securities of that series represented by one or more global securities and, in that event, will issue individual securities of that series in exchange for the global security or securities representing that series of securities.

MATERIAL PROVISIONS OF MARYLAND LAW AND OF OUR CHARTER AND BYLAWS

The following is a summary of certain provisions of Maryland law and of our charter and bylaws. Copies of our charter and bylaws are filed as exhibits to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. See “Where You Can Find More Information.”

The Board of Directors

Our bylaws provide that the number of directors of our company may be established by our board of directors but may not be fewer than the minimum number permitted under the MGCL nor more than 15. Any vacancy will be filled, at any regular meeting or at any special meeting called for that purpose, by a majority of the remaining directors.

Pursuant to our charter, each member of our board of directors will serve one year terms and until their successors are elected and qualified. Holders of shares of our common stock will have no right to cumulative voting in the election of directors. Consequently, at each annual meeting of stockholders at which our board of directors is elected, the holders of a plurality of the shares of our common stock will be able to elect all of the members of our board of directors.

Business Combinations

Maryland law prohibits “business combinations” between a corporation and an interested stockholder or an affiliate of an interested stockholder for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, statutory share exchange, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, certain transfers of assets, certain stock issuances and transfers, liquidation plans and reclassifications involving interested stockholders and their affiliates as asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. Maryland law defines an interested stockholder as:


	•	any person who beneficially owns 10% or more of the voting power of our voting stock; or

	•	an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time within the two-year period prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner of 10% or more of the voting power of the then-outstanding voting stock of the corporation.

A person is not an interested stockholder if the board of directors approves in advance the transaction by which the person otherwise would have become an interested stockholder. However, in approving the transaction, the board of directors may provide that its approval is subject to compliance, at or after the time of approval, with any terms and conditions determined by the board of directors.

After the five year prohibition, any business combination between a corporation and an interested stockholder generally must be recommended by the board of directors and approved by the affirmative vote of at least:


	•	80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of the then outstanding shares of common stock; and

	•	two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of the common stock other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom or with whose affiliate the business combination is to be effected or shares held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder.

These super-majority vote requirements do not apply if certain fair price requirements set forth in the MGCL are satisfied.

The statute permits various exemptions from its provisions, including business combinations that are approved by the board of directors before the time that the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder.

Our charter includes a provision excluding the corporation from these provisions of the MGCL and, consequently, the five-year prohibition and the super-majority vote requirements will not apply to business

combinations between us and any interested stockholder of ours unless we later amend our charter, with stockholder approval, to modify or eliminate this provision. Any such amendment may not be effective until 18 months after the stockholder vote and may not apply to any business combination involving us and an interested stockholder (or affiliate) who became an interested stockholder on or before the date of the vote. We believe that our ownership restrictions will substantially reduce the risk that a stockholder would become an “interested stockholder” within the meaning of the Maryland business combination statute.

Control Share Acquisitions

The MGCL provides that “control shares” of a Maryland corporation acquired in a “control share acquisition” have no voting rights except to the extent approved at a special meeting by the affirmative vote of two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding shares of stock in a corporation in respect of which any of the following persons is entitled to exercise or direct the exercise of the voting power of shares of stock of the corporation in the election of directors: (i) a person who makes or proposes to make a control share acquisition, (ii) an officer of the corporation or (iii) an employee of the corporation who is also a director of the corporation. “Control shares” are voting shares of stock which, if aggregated with all other such shares of stock previously acquired by the acquiror or in respect of which the acquiror is able to exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquiror to exercise voting power in electing directors within one of the following ranges of voting power: (i) one-tenth or more but less than one-third, (ii) one-third or more but less than a majority, or (iii) a majority or more of all voting power. Control shares do not include shares the acquiring person is then entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained stockholder approval. A “control share acquisition” means the acquisition of control shares, subject to certain exceptions.

A person who has made or proposes to make a control share acquisition, upon satisfaction of certain conditions (including an undertaking to pay expenses), may compel our board of directors to call a special meeting of stockholders to be held within 50 days of demand to consider the voting rights of the shares. If no request for a meeting is made, the corporation may itself present the question at any stockholders meeting.

If voting rights are not approved at the meeting or if the acquiring person does not deliver an acquiring person statement as required by the statute, then, subject to certain conditions and limitations, the corporation may redeem any or all of the control shares (except those for which voting rights have previously been approved) for fair value determined, without regard to the absence of voting rights for the control shares, as of the date of the last control share acquisition by the acquiror or of any meeting of stockholders at which the voting rights of such shares are considered and not approved. If voting rights for control shares are approved at a stockholders meeting and the acquiror becomes entitled to vote a majority of the shares entitled to vote, all other stockholders may exercise appraisal rights. The fair value of the shares as determined for purposes of such appraisal rights may not be less than the highest price per share paid by the acquiror in the control share acquisition.

The control share acquisition statute does not apply (i) to shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction or (ii) to acquisitions approved or exempted by the charter or bylaws of the corporation.

Our charter contains a provision exempting from the control share acquisition statute any and all acquisitions by any person of our common stock and, consequently, the applicability of the control share acquisitions unless we later amend our charter, with stockholder approval, to modify or eliminate this provision.

Amendment to Our Charter

Our charter may be amended only if declared advisable by the board of directors and approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of at least two-thirds of all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter.

Dissolution of Our Company

The dissolution of our company must be declared advisable by the board of directors and approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two-thirds of all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter.

Advance Notice of Director Nominations and New Business

Our bylaws provide that:


	•	with respect to an annual meeting of stockholders, the only business to be considered and the only proposals to be acted upon will be those properly brought before the annual meeting:



	•	pursuant to our notice of the meeting;



	•	by, or at the direction of, a majority of our board of directors; or



	•	by a stockholder who is entitled to vote at the meeting and has complied with the advance notice procedures set forth in our bylaws;


	•	with respect to special meetings of stockholders, only the business specified in our company’s notice of meeting may be brought before the meeting of stockholders unless otherwise provided by law; and

	•	nominations of persons for election to our board of directors at any annual or special meeting of stockholders may be made only:



	•	by, or at the direction of, our board of directors; or



	•	by a stockholder who is entitled to vote at the meeting and has complied with the advance notice provisions set forth in our bylaws.

Anti-Takeover Effect of Certain Provisions of Maryland Law and of Our Charter and Bylaws

The advance notice provisions of our bylaws could delay, defer or prevent a transaction or a change of control of our company that might involve a premium price for holders of our common stock or otherwise be in their best interest. Likewise, if our company’s charter were to be amended to avail the corporation of the business combination provisions of the MGCL or to remove or modify the provision in the charter opting out of the control share acquisition provisions of the MGCL, these provisions of the MGCL could have similar anti-takeover effects.

Indemnification and Limitation of Directors’ and Officers’ Liability

Our charter and the partnership agreement provide for indemnification of our officers and directors against liabilities to the fullest extent permitted by the MGCL, as amended from time to time.

The MGCL permits a corporation to indemnify a director or officer who has been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made a party by reason of his or her service in that capacity. The MGCL permits a corporation to indemnify its present and former directors and officers, among others, against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by them in connection with any proceeding to which they may be made a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that:


	•	an act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and:



	•	was committed in bad faith; or



	•	was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty;


	•	the director or officer actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services; or

	•	in the case of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful.

However, under the MGCL, a Maryland corporation may not indemnify for an adverse judgment in a suit by or in the right of the corporation (other than for expenses incurred in a successful defense of such an action) or for a judgment of liability on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received. In addition, the MGCL permits a corporation to advance reasonable expenses to a director or officer upon the corporation’s receipt of:


	•	a written affirmation by the director or officer of his good faith belief that he has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the corporation; and

	•	a written undertaking by the director or on the director’s behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the corporation if it is ultimately determined that the director did not meet the standard of conduct.

The MGCL permits a Maryland corporation to include in its charter a provision limiting the liability of its directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money damages except for liability resulting from actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or active and deliberate dishonesty established by a final judgment as being material to the cause of action. Our charter contains such a provision which eliminates such liability to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law.

Our bylaws obligate us, to the fullest extent permitted by Maryland law in effect from time to time, to indemnify and, without requiring a preliminary determination of the ultimate entitlement to indemnification, pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to:


	•	any present or former director or officer who is made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity; or

	•	any individual who, while a director or officer of our company and at our request, serves or has served another corporation, real estate investment trust, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or any other enterprise as a director, officer, partner or trustee and who is made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity.

Our bylaws also obligate us to indemnify and advance expenses to any person who served a predecessor of ours in any of the capacities described in second and third bullet points above and to any employee or agent of our company or a predecessor of our company.

The partnership agreement of our operating partnership provides that we, as general partner, and our officers and directors are indemnified to the fullest extent permitted by law. See “Partnership Agreement — Exculpation and Indemnification of the General Partner.”

Insofar as the foregoing provisions permit indemnification of directors, officers or persons controlling us for liability arising under the Securities Act, we have been informed that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission, this indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT

Management

Ashford Hospitality Limited Partnership, our operating partnership, has been organized as a Delaware limited partnership. One of our wholly-owned subsidiaries is the sole general partner of this partnership, and one of our subsidiaries holds limited partnership units in this partnership. We currently own an 81.7% interest in our operating partnership. The remaining 18.3% is owned by limited partners who received units in exchange for the contribution of certain of our assets. The substantial majority of these limited partnership units are owned by certain of our executives, employees and employees of our affiliates. In the future, we may issue additional interests in our operating partnership to third parties.

Pursuant to the partnership agreement of the operating partnership, we, as the sole general partner, generally have full, exclusive and complete responsibility and discretion in the management, operation and control of the partnership, including the ability to cause the partnership to enter into certain major

transactions, including acquisitions, developments and dispositions of properties, borrowings and refinancings of existing indebtedness. No limited partner may take part in the operation, management or control of the business of the operating partnership by virtue of being a holder of limited partnership units.

Our subsidiary may not be removed as general partner of the partnership. Upon the bankruptcy or dissolution of the general partner, the general partner shall be deemed to be removed automatically.

The limited partners of our operating partnership have agreed that in the event of a conflict in the fiduciary duties owed (i) by us to our stockholders and (ii) by us, as general partner of the operating partnership, to those limited partners, we may act in the best interests of our stockholders without violating our fiduciary duties to the limited partners of the operating partnership or being liable for any resulting breach of our duties to the limited partners.

Transferability of Interests

General Partner. The partnership agreement provides that we may not transfer our interest as a general partner (including by sale, disposition, merger or consolidation) except:


	•	in connection with a merger of the operating partnership, a sale of substantially all of the assets of the operating partnership or other transaction in which the limited partners receive a certain amount of cash, securities or property; or

	•	in connection with a merger of us or the general partner into another entity, if the surviving entity contributes substantially all its assets to the operating partnership and assumes the duties of the general partner under the operating partnership agreement.

Limited Partner. The partnership agreement prohibits the sale, assignment, transfer, pledge or disposition of all or any portion of the limited partnership units without our consent, which we may give or withhold in our sole discretion. However, an individual partner may donate his units to his immediate family or a trust wholly owned by his immediate family, without our consent. In addition, the partnerships contributing our initial hotel properties to us in exchange for units in our operating partnership may transfer those units to their partners, without our consent. The partnership agreement contains other restrictions on transfer if, among other things that transfer:


	•	would cause us to fail to comply with the REIT rules under the Internal Revenue Code, or

	•	would cause us to become a publicly-traded partnership under the Internal Revenue Code.

Capital Contributions

The partnership agreement provides that if the partnership requires additional funds at any time in excess of funds available to the partnership from borrowing or capital contributions, we may borrow such funds from a financial institution or other lender and lend such funds to the partnership. Under the partnership agreement, we are obligated to contribute the proceeds of any offering of stock as additional capital to the partnership. The operating partnership is authorized to cause the partnership to issue partnership interests for less than fair market value if we conclude in good faith that such issuance is in both the partnership’s and our best interests.

The partnership agreement provides that we may make additional capital contributions, including properties, to the partnership in exchange for additional partnership units. If we contribute additional capital to the partnership and receive additional partnership interests for such capital contribution, our percentage interests will be increased on a proportionate basis based on the amount of such additional capital contributions and the value of the partnership at the time of such contributions. Conversely, the percentage interests of the other limited partners will be decreased on a proportionate basis. In addition, if we contribute additional capital to the partnership and receive additional partnership interests for such capital contribution, the capital accounts of the partners will be adjusted upward or downward to reflect any unrealized gain or loss attributable to our properties as if there were an actual sale of such properties at the fair market value thereof. Limited partners have no preemptive right to make additional capital contributions.

The operating partnership could issue preferred partnership interests in connection with acquisitions of property or otherwise. Any such preferred partnership interests would have priority over common partnership interests with respect to distributions from the partnership, including the partnership interests that our wholly-owned subsidiaries own.

Redemption Rights

Under the partnership agreement, we have granted to each limited partner (other than our subsidiary) the right to redeem their limited partnership units. This right may be exercised at the election of that limited partner by giving us written notice, subject to some limitations. The purchase price for the limited partnership units to be redeemed will equal the fair market value of our common stock. The purchase price for the limited partnership units may be paid in cash, or, in our discretion, by the issuance by us of a number of shares of our common stock equal to the number of limited partnership units with respect to which the rights are being exercised. However, no limited partner will be entitled to exercise its redemption rights to the extent that the issuance of common stock to the redeeming partner would be prohibited under our charter or, if after giving effect to such exercise, would cause any person to own, actually or constructively, more than 9.8% of our common stock, unless such ownership limit is waived by us in our sole discretion.

In all cases, however, no limited partner may exercise the redemption right for fewer than 1,000 partnership units or, if a limited partner holds fewer than 1,000 partnership units, all of the partnership units held by such limited partner.

Currently, the aggregate number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the redemption rights is 5,764,592. The number of shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of the redemption rights will be adjusted to account for share splits, mergers, consolidations or similar pro rata share transactions.

Operations

The partnership agreement requires the partnership to be operated in a manner that enables us to satisfy the requirements for being classified as a REIT, to minimize any excise tax liability imposed by the Internal Revenue Code and to ensure that the partnership will not be classified as a “publicly traded partnership” taxable as a corporation under Section 7704 of the Code.

In addition to the administrative and operating costs and expenses incurred by the partnership, the partnership will pay all of our administrative costs and expenses. These expenses will be treated as expenses of the partnership and will generally include:


	•	all expenses relating to our continuity of existence;

	•	all expenses relating to offerings and registration of securities;

	•	all expenses associated with the preparation and filing of any of our periodic reports under federal, state or local laws or regulations;

	•	all expenses associated with our compliance with laws, rules and regulations promulgated by any regulatory body; and

	•	all of our other operating or administrative costs incurred in the ordinary course of its business on behalf of the partnership.

Distributions

The partnership agreement provides that the partnership will make cash distributions in amounts and at such times as determined by us in our sole discretion, to us and other limited partners in accordance with the respective percentage interests of the partners in the partnership.

Upon liquidation of the partnership, after payment of, or adequate provisions for, debts and obligations of the partnership, including any partner loans, any remaining assets of the partnership will be distributed to us

and the other limited partners with positive capital accounts in accordance with the respective positive capital account balances of the partners.

Allocations

Profits and losses of the partnership (including depreciation and amortization deductions) for each fiscal year generally are allocated to us and the other limited partners in accordance with the respective percentage interests of the partners in the partnership. All of the foregoing allocations are subject to compliance with the provisions of Internal Revenue Code sections 704(b) and 704(c) and Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder. The partnership will use the “traditional method” under Internal Revenue Code section 704(c) for allocating items with respect to which the fair market value at the time of contribution differs from the adjusted tax basis at the time of contribution for a hotel.

Amendments

Generally, we, as the general partner of the operating partnership, may amend the partnership agreement without the consent of any limited partner to clarify the partnership agreement, to make changes of an inconsequential nature, to reflect the admission, substitution or withdrawal of limited partners, to reflect the issuance of additional partnership interests or if, in the opinion of counsel, necessary or appropriate to satisfy the Code with respect to partnerships or REITs or federal or state securities laws. However, any amendment which alters or changes the distribution or redemption rights of a limited partner (other than a change to reflect the seniority of any distribution or liquidation rights of any preferred units issued in accordance with the partnership agreement), changes the method for allocating profits and losses, imposes any obligation on the limited partners to make additional capital contributions or adversely affects the limited liability of the limited partners requires the consent of holders of 66 2/3% of the limited partnership units, excluding our indirect ownership of limited partnership units. Other amendments require approval of the general partner and holders of 50% of the limited partnership units.

In addition, the operating partnership may be amended, without the consent of any limited partner, in the event that we or any of our subsidiaries engages in a merger or consolidation with another entity and immediately after such transaction the surviving entity contributes to the operating partnership substantially all of the assets of such surviving entity and the surviving entity agrees to assume our subsidiary’s obligation as general partner of the partnership. In such case, the surviving entity will amend the operating partnership agreement to arrive at a new method for calculating the amount a limited partner is to receive upon redemption or conversion of a partnership unit (such method to approximate the existing method as much as possible).

Exculpation and Indemnification of the General Partner

The partnership agreement of our operating partnership provides that neither the general partner, nor any of its directors and officers will be liable to the partnership or to any of its partners as a result of errors in judgment or mistakes of fact or law or of any act or omission, if the general partner acted in good faith.

In addition, the partnership agreement requires our operating partnership to indemnify and hold the general partner and its directors, officers and any other person it designates, harmless from and against any and all claims arising from operations of the operating partnership in which any such indemnitee may be involved, or is threatened to be involved, as a party or otherwise, unless it is established that:


	•	the act or omission of the indemnitee was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and was committed in bad faith or was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty,

	•	the indemnitee actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services, or

	•	in the case of any criminal proceeding, the indemnitee had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful.

No indemnitee may subject any partner of our operating partnership to personal liability with respect to this indemnification obligation as this indemnification obligation will be satisfied solely out of the assets of the partnership.

Term

The partnership has a perpetual life, unless dissolved upon:


	•	the general partner’s bankruptcy or dissolution or withdrawal (unless the limited partners elect to continue the partnership);

	•	the passage of 90 days after the sale or other disposition of all or substantially all the assets of the partnership;

	•	the redemption of all partnership units (other than those held by us, if any); or

	•	an election by us in our capacity as the sole owner of the general partner.

Tax Matters

The general partner is the tax matters partner of the operating partnership. We have the authority to make tax elections under the Internal Revenue Code on behalf of the partnership. The net income or net loss of the operating partnership will generally be allocated to us and the limited partners in accordance with our respective percentage interests in the partnership, subject to compliance with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code.

FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES OF OUR STATUS AS A REIT

The following discussion is a summary of the material federal income tax considerations that may be relevant to a prospective holder of common stock, and, unless otherwise noted in the following discussion, expresses the opinion of Andrews Kurth LLP insofar as it relates to matters of United States federal income tax law and legal conclusions with respect to those matters. The discussion does not address all aspects of taxation that may be relevant to particular stockholders in light of their personal investment or tax circumstances, or to certain types of stockholders that are subject to special treatment under the federal income tax laws, such as insurance companies, financial institutions or broker-dealers, tax-exempt organizations (except to the limited extent discussed in “— Taxation of Tax-Exempt Stockholders”), of foreign corporations and persons who are not citizens or residents of the United States (except to the limited extent discussed in “— Taxation of Non-U.S. Stockholders”).

The statements of law in this discussion and the opinion of Andrews Kurth LLP are based on current provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the “Code,” existing temporary and final Treasury regulations thereunder, and current administrative rulings and court decisions. No assurance can be given that future legislative, judicial, or administrative actions or decisions, which may be retroactive in effect, will not affect the accuracy of any statements in this prospectus with respect to the transactions entered into or contemplated prior to the effective date of such changes.

We urge you to consult your own tax advisor regarding the specific tax consequences to you of ownership of our common stock and of our election to be taxed as a REIT. Specifically, you should consult your own tax advisor regarding the federal, state, local, foreign, and other tax consequences of such ownership and election and regarding potential changes in applicable tax laws.

Taxation of Our Company

We are currently taxed as a REIT under the federal income tax laws. We believe that we are organized and operate in such a manner as to qualify for taxation as a REIT under the Code, and we intend to continue to operate in such a manner, but no assurance can be given that we will operate in a manner so as to continue

to qualify as a REIT. This section discusses the laws governing the federal income tax treatment of a REIT and its stockholders. These laws are highly technical and complex.

Andrews Kurth LLP has acted as our counsel in connection with the offering and our election to be taxed as a REIT. In the opinion of Andrews Kurth LLP, we are organized in conformity with the requirements for qualification as a REIT, and our method of operation enables us to meet the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code. Investors should be aware that Andrews Kurth LLP’s opinion is based upon customary assumptions, is conditioned upon certain representations made by us as to factual matters, including representations regarding the nature of our properties and the future conduct of our business, and is not binding upon the Internal Revenue Service or any court. In addition, Andrews Kurth LLP’s opinion is based on existing federal income tax law governing qualification as a REIT, which is subject to change either prospectively or retroactively. Moreover, our continued qualification and taxation as a REIT depend upon our ability to meet on a continuing basis, through actual annual operating results, certain qualification tests set forth in the federal tax laws. Those qualification tests involve the percentage of income that we earn from specified sources, the percentage of our assets that falls within specified categories, the diversity of our share ownership, and the percentage of our earnings that we distribute. While Andrews Kurth LLP has reviewed those matters in connection with the foregoing opinion, Andrews Kurth LLP will not review our compliance with those tests on a continuing basis. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that the actual results of our operation for any particular taxable year will satisfy such requirements. For a discussion of the tax consequences of our failure to qualify as a REIT, see “— Failure to Qualify.”

If we qualify as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to federal income tax on the taxable income that we distribute to our stockholders. The benefit of that tax treatment is that it avoids the “double taxation,” or taxation at both the corporate and stockholder levels, that generally results from owning stock in a corporation. However, we will be subject to federal tax in the following circumstances:


	•	We will pay federal income tax on taxable income, including net capital gain, that we do not distribute to our stockholders during, or within a specified time period after, the calendar year in which the income is earned.

	•	Under certain circumstances, we may be subject to the “alternative minimum tax” on items of tax preference.

	•	We will pay income tax at the highest corporate rate on (1) net income from the sale or other disposition of property acquired through foreclosure (“foreclosure property”) that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business and (2) other non-qualifying income from foreclosure property.

	•	We will pay a 100% tax on net income from sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business.


	•	If we fail to satisfy the 75% gross income test or the 95% gross income test, as described below under “— Income Tests,” and nonetheless continue to qualify as a REIT because we meet other requirements, we will pay a 100% tax on (1) the gross income attributable to the greater of the amounts by which we fail the 75% and 95% gross income tests, multiplied by (2) a fraction intended to reflect our profitability.


	•	If we fail to distribute during a calendar year at least the sum of (1) 85% of our REIT ordinary income for such year, (2) 95% of our REIT capital gain net income for such year, and (3) any undistributed taxable income from prior periods, we will pay a 4% excise tax on the excess of this required distribution over the amount we actually distributed.

	•	We may elect to retain and pay income tax on our net long-term capital gain. In that case, a U.S. stockholder would be taxed on its proportionate share of our undistributed long-term capital gain (to the extent that a timely designation of such gain is made by us to the stockholder) and would receive a credit or refund for its proportionate share of the tax we paid.



	•	If we acquire any asset from a C corporation, or a corporation that generally is subject to full corporate-level tax, in a merger or other transaction in which we acquire a basis in the asset that is determined by reference to the C corporation’s basis in the asset, we will pay tax at the highest regular corporate rate applicable if we recognize gain on the sale or disposition of such asset during the 10-year period after we acquire such asset. The amount of gain on which we will pay tax generally is the lesser of: (1) the amount of gain that we recognize at the time of the sale or disposition; or (2) the amount of gain that we would have recognized if we had sold the asset at the time we acquired the asset.


	•	We will incur a 100% excise tax on transactions with a “taxable REIT subsidiary” that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis.

Requirements for Qualification

A REIT is a corporation, trust, or association that meets the following requirements:


	1. it is managed by one or more trustees or directors;

	2. its beneficial ownership is evidenced by transferable shares or by transferable certificates of beneficial interest;

	3. it would be taxable as a domestic corporation but for the REIT provisions of the federal income tax laws;

	4. it is neither a financial institution nor an insurance company subject to special provisions of the federal income tax laws;

	5. at least 100 persons are beneficial owners of its shares or ownership certificates;

	6. no more than 50% in value of its outstanding shares or ownership certificates is owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals, as defined in the federal income tax laws to include certain entities, during the last half of each taxable year;

	7. it elects to be a REIT, or has made such election for a previous taxable year, and satisfies all relevant filing and other administrative requirements established by the Internal Revenue Service that must be met to elect and maintain REIT status;

	8. it uses a calendar year for federal income tax purposes and complies with the recordkeeping requirements of the federal income tax laws; and

	9. it meets certain other qualification tests, described below, regarding the nature of its income and assets and the amount of its distributions.

We must meet requirements 1 through 4 during our entire taxable year and must meet requirement 5 during at least 335 days of a taxable year of 12 months, or during a proportionate part of a taxable year of less than 12 months. If we comply with all the requirements for ascertaining the ownership of our outstanding shares in a taxable year and have no reason to know that we violated requirement 6, we will be deemed to have satisfied requirement 6 for such taxable year. For purposes of determining share ownership under requirement 6, an “individual” generally includes a supplemental unemployment compensation benefits plan, a private foundation, or a portion of a trust permanently set aside or used exclusively for charitable purposes. An “individual,” however, generally does not include a trust that is a qualified employee pension or profit sharing trust under the federal income tax laws, and beneficiaries of such a trust will be treated as holding shares of our common stock in proportion to their actuarial interests in the trust for purposes of requirement 6.

We have issued sufficient common stock with enough diversity of ownership to satisfy requirements 5 and 6 set forth above. In addition, our charter restricts the ownership and transfer of the common stock so that we should continue to satisfy requirements 5 and 6. The provisions of our charter restricting the ownership and transfer of the common stock are described in “Description of Our Capital Stock — Restrictions on Ownership and Transfer.”

A corporation that is a “qualified REIT subsidiary” is not treated as a corporation separate from its parent REIT. All assets, liabilities, and items of income, deduction, and credit of a “qualified REIT subsidiary” are treated as assets, liabilities, and items of income, deduction, and credit of the REIT. A “qualified REIT subsidiary” is a corporation, other than a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”), all of the capital stock of which is owned by the REIT. Thus, in applying the requirements described in this section, any “qualified REIT subsidiary” that we own will be ignored, and all assets, liabilities, and items of income, deduction, and credit of that subsidiary will be treated as our assets, liabilities, and items of income, deduction, and credit. Similarly, any wholly owned limited liability company that we own will be disregarded, and all assets, liabilities and items of income, deduction and credit of such limited liability company will be treated as ours.

In the case of a REIT that is a partner in a partnership, the REIT is treated as owning its proportionate share (based on capital interests) of the assets of the partnership and as earning its allocable share of the gross income of the partnership for purposes of the applicable REIT qualification tests. Thus, our proportionate share of the assets, liabilities, and items of income of our operating partnership and of any other partnership, joint venture, or limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes in which we own or will acquire an interest, directly or indirectly (each, a “Partnership” and, together, the “Partnerships”), are treated as our assets and gross income for purposes of applying the various REIT qualification requirements.

Subject to restrictions on the value of TRS securities held by the REIT, a REIT is permitted to own up to 100% of the stock of one or more TRSs. A TRS is a fully taxable corporation. A TRS may not directly or indirectly operate or manage any hotels or health care facilities or provide rights to any brand name under which any hotel or health care facility is operated but is permitted to lease hotels from a related REIT as long as the hotels are operated on behalf of the TRS by an “eligible independent contractor.” We formed and made a timely election with respect to one TRS, Ashford TRS Corporation, which leases each of our properties. Additionally, we may form or acquire one or more additional TRSs in the future. See “— Taxable REIT Subsidiaries.”

Income Tests

We must satisfy two gross income tests annually to maintain our qualification as a REIT. First, at least 75% of our gross income for each taxable year must consist of defined types of income that we derive, directly or indirectly, from investments relating to real property or mortgages on real property or temporary investment income. Qualifying income for purposes of that 75% gross income test generally includes:


	•	rents from real property;

	•	interest on debt secured by mortgages on real property or on interests in real property;

	•	dividends and gain from the sale of shares in other REITs; and

	•	gain from the sale of real estate assets.

Second, in general, at least 95% of our gross income for each taxable year must consist of income that is qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, other types of dividends and interest, gain from the sale or disposition of stock or securities, income from certain hedging transactions, or any combination of the foregoing. Gross income from our sale of any property that we hold primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business is excluded from both income tests. The following paragraphs discuss the specific application of the gross income tests to us.

Rents from Real Property. Rent that we receive from real property that we own and lease to tenants will qualify as “rents from real property,” which is qualifying income for purposes of the 75% and 95% gross income tests, only if the following conditions are met:


	•	First, the rent must not be based, in whole or in part, on the income or profits of any person but may be based on a fixed percentage or percentages of gross receipts or gross sales.


	•	Second, neither we nor a direct or indirect owner of 10% or more of our shares of common stock may own, actually or constructively, 10% or more of a tenant other than a TRS from whom we receive rent.

	•	Third, if the rent attributable to personal property leased in connection with a lease of real property exceeds 15% of the total rent received under the lease, then the portion of rent attributable to that personal property will not qualify as “rents from real property.”

	•	Fourth, we generally must not operate or manage our real property or furnish or render services to our tenants, other than through an “independent contractor” who is adequately compensated, from whom we do not derive revenue, and who does not, directly or through its stockholders, own more than 35% of our shares of common stock, taking into consideration the applicable ownership attribution rules. However, we need not provide services through an “independent contractor,” but instead may provide services directly to our tenants, if the services are “usually or customarily rendered” in the geographic area in connection with the rental of space for occupancy only and are not considered to be provided for the tenants’ convenience. In addition, we may provide a minimal amount of “non-customary” services to the tenants of a property, other than through an independent contractor, as long as our income from the services (valued at not less than 150% of our direct cost of performing such services) does not exceed 1% of our income from the related property. Furthermore, we may own up to 100% of the stock of a TRS which may provide customary and noncustomary services to our tenants without tainting our rental income from the related properties. See “— Taxable REIT Subsidiaries.”

Pursuant to percentage leases, Ashford TRS leases each of our properties. The percentage leases provide that Ashford TRS is obligated to pay to the Partnerships (1) a minimum base rent plus percentage rent based on gross revenue and (2) “additional charges” or other expenses, as defined in the leases. Percentage rent is calculated by multiplying fixed percentages by room revenues for each of the hotels. Both base rent and the thresholds in the percentage rent formulas will be adjusted for inflation.

In order for the base rent, percentage rent, and additional charges to constitute “rents from real property,” the percentage leases must be respected as true leases for federal income tax purposes and not treated as service contracts, joint ventures, or some other type of arrangement. The determination of whether the percentage leases are true leases depends on an analysis of all the surrounding facts and circumstances. In making such a determination, courts have considered a variety of factors, including the following:


	•	the intent of the parties;

	•	the form of the agreement;

	•	the degree of control over the property that is retained by the property owner, or whether the lessee has substantial control over the operation of the property or is required simply to use its best efforts to perform its obligations under the agreement; and

	•	the extent to which the property owner retains the risk of loss with respect to the property, or whether the lessee bears the risk of increases in operating expenses or the risk of damage to the property or the potential for economic gain or appreciation with respect to the property.

In addition, federal income tax law provides that a contract that purports to be a service contract or a partnership agreement will be treated instead as a lease of property if the contract is properly treated as such, taking into account all relevant factors, including whether or not:


	•	the service recipient is in physical possession of the property;

	•	the service recipient controls the property;

	•	the service recipient has a significant economic or possessory interest in the property, or whether the property’s use is likely to be dedicated to the service recipient for a substantial portion of the useful life of the property, the recipient shares the risk that the property will decline in value, the recipient shares in any appreciation in the value of the property, the recipient shares in savings in the property’s operating costs, or the recipient bears the risk of damage to or loss of the property;


	•	the service provider bears the risk of substantially diminished receipts or substantially increased expenditures if there is nonperformance under the contract;

	•	the service provider uses the property concurrently to provide significant services to entities unrelated to the service recipient; and

	•	the total contract price substantially exceeds the rental value of the property for the contract period.

Since the determination whether a service contract should be treated as a lease is inherently factual, the presence or absence of any single factor will not be dispositive in every case.

We believe that the percentage leases will be treated as true leases for federal income tax purposes. Such belief is based, in part, on the following facts:


	•	the Partnerships, on the one hand, and Ashford TRS, on the other hand, intend for their relationship to be that of a lessor and lessee, and such relationship is documented by lease agreements;

	•	Ashford TRS has the right to the exclusive possession, use, and quiet enjoyment of the hotels during the term of the percentage leases;

	•	Ashford TRS bears the cost of, and is responsible for, day-to-day maintenance and repair of the hotels and generally dictates how the hotels are operated, maintained, and improved;

	•	Ashford TRS bears all of the costs and expenses of operating the hotels, including the cost of any inventory used in their operation, during the term of the percentage leases, other than real estate;

	•	Ashford TRS benefits from any savings in the costs of operating the hotels during the term of the percentage leases;

	•	Ashford TRS generally has indemnified the Partnerships against all liabilities imposed on the Partnerships during the term of the percentage leases by reason of (1) injury to persons or damage to property occurring at the hotels, (2) Ashford TRS’ use, management, maintenance, or repair of the hotels, (3) any environmental liability caused by acts or grossly negligent failures to act of Ashford TRS, (4) taxes and assessments in respect of the hotels that are the obligations of Ashford TRS, or (5) any breach of the percentage leases or of any sublease of a hotel by Ashford TRS;

	•	Ashford TRS is obligated to pay substantial fixed rent for the period of use of the hotels;

	•	Ashford TRS stands to incur substantial losses or reap substantial gains depending on how successfully it operates the hotels;

	•	the Partnerships cannot use the hotels concurrently to provide significant services to entities unrelated to Ashford TRS; and

	•	the total contract price under the percentage leases does not substantially exceed the rental value of the hotels for the term of the percentage leases.

Investors should be aware that there are no controlling Treasury regulations, published rulings, or judicial decisions involving leases with terms substantially the same as the percentage leases that discuss whether such leases constitute true leases for federal income tax purposes. If the percentage leases are characterized as service contracts or partnership agreements, rather than as true leases, part or all of the payments that the Partnerships receive from Ashford TRS may not be considered rent or may not otherwise satisfy the various requirements for qualification as “rents from real property.” In that case, we likely would not be able to satisfy either the 75% or 95% gross income test and, as a result, would lose our REIT status.

As described above, in order for the rent received by us to constitute “rents from real property,” several other requirements must be satisfied. One requirement is that the percentage rent must not be based in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person. The percentage rent, however, will qualify as “rents from real property” if it is based on percentages of gross receipts or gross sales and the percentages:


	•	are fixed at the time the percentage leases are entered into;


	•	are not renegotiated during the term of the percentage leases in a manner that has the effect of basing percentage rent on income or profits; and

	•	conform with normal business practice.

More generally, the percentage rent will not qualify as “rents from real property” if, considering the percentage leases and all the surrounding circumstances, the arrangement does not conform with normal business practice, but is in reality used as a means of basing the percentage rent on income or profits. Since the percentage rent is based on fixed percentages of the gross revenues from the hotels that are established in the percentage leases, and we have represented to Andrews Kurth LLP that the percentages (1) will not be renegotiated during the terms of the percentage leases in a manner that has the effect of basing the percentage rent on income or profits and (2) conform with normal business practice, the percentage rent should not be considered based in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person. Furthermore, we have represented to Andrews Kurth LLP that, with respect to other hotel properties that we acquire in the future, we will not charge rent for any property that is based in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person, except by reason of being based on a fixed percentage of gross revenues, as described above.

Another requirement for qualification of our rent as “rents from real property” is that we must not own, actually or constructively, 10% or more of the stock of any corporate lessee or 10% or more of the assets or net profits of any non-corporate lessee (a “related party tenant”). This rule, however, does not apply to rents for hotels leased to a TRS if an “eligible independent contractor” operates the hotel for the TRS.

A third requirement for qualification of our rent as “rents from real property” is that the rent attributable to the personal property leased in connection with the lease of a hotel must not be greater than 15% of the total rent received under the lease. The rent attributable to the personal property contained in a hotel is the amount that bears the same ratio to total rent for the taxable year as the average of the fair market values of the personal property at the beginning and at the end of the taxable year bears to the average of the aggregate fair market values of both the real and personal property contained in the hotel at the beginning and at the end of such taxable year (the “personal property ratio”). With respect to each hotel, we believe either that the personal property ratio is less than 15% or that any income attributable to excess personal property will not jeopardize our ability to qualify as a REIT. There can be no assurance, however, that the Internal Revenue Service would not challenge our calculation of a personal property ratio or that a court would not uphold such assertion. If such a challenge were successfully asserted, we could fail to satisfy the 95% or 75% gross income test and thus lose our REIT status.

A fourth requirement for qualification of our rent as “rents from real property” is that, other than within the 1% de minimis exception described above (i.e., we may provide a minimal amount of “non-customary” services to the tenants of a property, other than through an independent contractor, as long as our income from the services does not exceed 1% of our income from the related property) and other than through a TRS, we cannot furnish or render noncustomary services to the tenants of our hotels, or manage or operate our hotels, other than through an independent contractor who is adequately compensated and from whom we do not derive or receive any income. Provided that the percentage leases are respected as true leases, we should satisfy that requirement, because the Partnerships will not perform any services other than customary services for Ashford TRS. Furthermore, we have represented that, with respect to other hotel properties that we acquire in the future, we will not perform noncustomary services for Ashford TRS.

If a portion of our rent from a hotel does not qualify as “rents from real property” because the rent attributable to personal property exceeds 15% of the total rent for a taxable year, the portion of the rent that is attributable to personal property will not be qualifying income for purposes of either the 75% or 95% gross income test. Thus, if such rent attributable to personal property, plus any other income that is nonqualifying income for purposes of the 95% gross income test, during a taxable year exceeds 5% of our gross income during the year, we would lose our REIT status. If, however, the rent from a particular hotel does not qualify as “rents from real property” because either (1) the percentage rent is considered based on the income or profits of the related lessee, (2) the lessee is a related party tenant other than a TRS, or (3) we furnish noncustomary services to the tenants of the hotel, or manage or operate the hotel, other than through a qualifying independent contractor or a TRS, none of the rent from that hotel would qualify as “rents from real property.”

In that case, we likely would be unable to satisfy either the 75% or 95% gross income test and, as a result, would lose our REIT status.

In addition to the rent, the TRS is required to pay to the Partnerships certain additional charges. To the extent that such additional charges represent either (1) reimbursements of amounts that the Partnerships are obligated to pay to third parties or (2) penalties for nonpayment or late payment of such amounts, such charges should qualify as “rents from real property.” However, to the extent that such charges represent interest that is accrued on the late payment of the rent or additional charges, such charges will not qualify as “rents from real property,” but instead should be treated as interest that qualifies for the 95% gross income test.

Interest

The term “interest” generally does not include any amount received or accrued, directly or indirectly, if the determination of such amount depends in whole or in part on the income or profits of any person. However, an amount received or accrued generally will not be excluded from the term “interest” solely by reason of being based on a fixed percentage or percentages of receipts or sales. Furthermore, to the extent that interest from a loan that is based on the residual cash proceeds from the sale of the property securing the loan constitutes a “shared appreciation provision,” income attributable to such participation feature will be treated as gain from the sale of the secured property.

While certain of our existing mezzanine loans are not secured by a direct interest in real property, other of our mezzanine loans are, and future mezzanine loans may be. In Revenue Procedure 2003-65, the Internal Revenue Service established a safe harbor under which interest from loans secured by a first priority security interest in ownership interests in a partnership or limited liability company owning real property will be treated as qualifying income for both the 75% and 95% gross income tests, provided several requirements are satisfied. Although we anticipate that most or all of any mezzanine loans that we make or acquire will qualify for the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2003-65, it is possible that we may make or acquire some mezzanine loans that do not qualify for the safe harbor. In those cases, the interest income from the loans will be qualifying income for purposes of the 95% gross income test but potentially will not be qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test. We will make or acquire mezzanine loans that do not qualify for the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2003-65 only to the extent that the interest from those loans, combined with our other nonqualifying income, will not cause us to fail to satisfy the 75% gross income test.

Prohibited Transactions

A REIT will incur a 100% tax on the net income derived from any sale or other disposition of property, other than foreclosure property, that the REIT holds primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. Whether a REIT holds an asset “primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business” depends on the facts and circumstances in effect from time to time, including those related to a particular asset. We believe that none of the assets owned by the Partnerships is held for sale to customers and that a sale of any such asset would not be in the ordinary course of the owning entity’s business. We will attempt to comply with the terms of safe-harbor provisions in the federal income tax laws prescribing when an asset sale will not be characterized as a prohibited transaction. We cannot provide assurance, however, that we can comply with such safe-harbor provisions or that the Partnerships will avoid owning property that may be characterized as property held “primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business.”

Foreclosure Property

We will be subject to tax at the maximum corporate rate on any income from foreclosure property, other than income that would be qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, less expenses directly connected with the production of such income. However, gross income from such foreclosure property will

qualify for purposes of the 75% and 95% gross income tests. “Foreclosure property” is any real property, including interests in real property, and any personal property incident to such real property:



	•	that is acquired by a REIT as the result of such REIT having bid in such property at foreclosure, or having otherwise reduced such property to ownership or possession by agreement or process of law, after there was a default or default was imminent on a lease of such property or on an indebtedness that such property secured; and bb,2


	•	for which such REIT makes a proper election to treat such property as foreclosure property.

However, a REIT will not be considered to have foreclosed on a property where the REIT takes control of the property as a mortgagee-in-possession and cannot receive any profit or sustain any loss except as a creditor of the mortgagor. Property generally ceases to be foreclosure property with respect to a REIT at the end of the third taxable year following the taxable year in which the REIT acquired such property, or longer if an extension is granted by the Secretary of the Treasury. The foregoing grace period is terminated and foreclosure property ceases to be foreclosure property on the first day:


	•	on which a lease is entered into with respect to such property that, by its terms, will give rise to income that does not qualify for purposes of the 75% gross income test or any amount is received or accrued, directly or indirectly, pursuant to a lease entered into on or after such day that will give rise to income that does not qualify for purposes of the 75% gross income test;

	•	on which any construction takes place on such property, other than completion of a building, or any other improvement, where more than 10% of the construction of such building or other improvement was completed before default became imminent; or

	•	which is more than 90 days after the day on which such property was acquired by the REIT and the property is used in a trade or business which is conducted by the REIT, other than through an independent contractor from whom the REIT itself does not derive or receive any income.

As a result of the rules with respect to foreclosure property, if a lessee defaults on its obligations under a percentage lease, we terminate the lessee’s leasehold interest, and we are unable to find a replacement lessee for the hotel within 90 days of such foreclosure, gross income from hotel operations conducted by us from such hotel would cease to qualify for the 75% and 95% gross income tests unless we are able to hire an independent contractor to manage and operate the hotel. In such event, we might be unable to satisfy the 75% and 95% gross income tests and, thus, might fail to qualify as a REIT.

Hedging Transactions

From time to time, we may enter into hedging transactions with respect to one or more of our assets or liabilities. Our hedging activities may include entering into interest rate swaps, caps, and floors, options to purchase such items, and futures and forward contracts. To the extent that we enter into an interest rate swap or cap contract, option, futures contract, forward rate agreement, or any similar financial instrument to hedge our indebtedness incurred to acquire or carry “real estate assets,” any periodic income or gain from the disposition of such contract should be qualifying income for purposes of the 95% gross income test, but not the 75% gross income test. To the extent that we hedge with other types of financial instruments, or in other situations, it is not entirely clear how the income from those transactions will be treated for purposes of the gross income tests. We intend to structure any hedging transactions in a manner that does not jeopardize our status as a REIT. The REIT income and asset rules may limit our ability to hedge loans or securities acquired as investments.

Failure to Satisfy Gross Income Tests

If we fail to satisfy one or both of the gross income tests for any taxable year, we nevertheless may qualify as a REIT for such year if we qualify for relief under certain provisions of the federal income tax laws. Those relief provisions generally will be available if:


	•	our failure to meet such tests is due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect;


	•	we attach a schedule of the sources of our income to our tax return; and

	•	any incorrect information on the schedule was not due to fraud with intent to evade tax.

We cannot predict, however, whether in all circumstances we would qualify for the relief provisions. In addition, as discussed above in “— Taxation of our Company,” even if the relief provisions apply, we would incur a 100% tax on the gross income attributable to the greater of the amounts by which we fail the 75% and 95% gross income tests, multiplied by a fraction intended to reflect our profitability.

Asset Tests

To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we also must satisfy the following asset tests at the close of each quarter of each taxable year:


	•	First, at least 75% of the value of our total assets must consist of:



	•	cash or cash items, including certain receivables;



	•	government securities;



	•	interests in real property, including leaseholds and options to acquire real property and leaseholds;



	•	interests in mortgages on real property;



	•	stock in other REITs; and



	•	investments in stock or debt instruments during the one-year period following our receipt of new capital that we raise through equity offerings or offerings of debt with at least a five-year term.


	•	Second, of our investments not included in the 75% asset class, the value of our interest in any one issuer’s securities may not exceed 5% of the value of our total assets.

	•	Third, we may not own more than 10% of the voting power or value of any one issuer’s outstanding securities.

	•	Fourth, no more than 20% of the value of our total assets may consist of the securities of one or more TRSs.

For purposes of the second and third asset tests, the term “securities” does not include stock in another REIT, equity or debt securities of a qualified REIT subsidiary or TRS, or equity interests in a partnership. The 10% value test does not take into account “straight debt” issued by an individual or any entity if we hold no other securities issued by such entity or by a partnership if we own at least a 20% profits interest in the partnership.

We believe that our existing mezzanine loans that are secured only by ownership interests in an entity owning real property qualify for the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2003-65, pursuant to which mezzanine loans secured by a first priority security interest in ownership interests in a partnership or limited liability company will be treated as qualifying assets for purposes of the 75% asset test. We may make or acquire some mezzanine loans that are secured only by a first priority security interest in ownership interests in a partnership or limited liability company and that do not qualify for the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2003-65 relating to the 75% asset test and that do not qualify as “straight debt” for purposes of the 10% value test. We will make or acquire mezzanine loans that do not qualify for the safe harbor in Revenue Procedure 2003-65 or as “straight debt” securities only to the extent that such loans will not cause us to fail the asset tests described above.

If we should fail to satisfy the asset tests at the end of a calendar quarter, we would not lose our REIT status if (1) we satisfied the asset tests at the close of the preceding calendar quarter and (2) the discrepancy between the value of our assets and the asset test requirements arose from changes in the market values of our assets and was not wholly or partly caused by the acquisition of one or more non-qualifying assets. If we did not satisfy the condition described in clause (2) of the preceding sentence, we still could avoid disqualification

as a REIT by eliminating any discrepancy within 30 days after the close of the calendar quarter in which the discrepancy arose.

Distribution Requirements

Each taxable year, we must distribute dividends, other than capital gain dividends and deemed distributions of retained capital gain, to our stockholders in an aggregate amount at least equal to:


	•	the sum of (1) 90% of our “REIT taxable income,” computed without regard to the dividends paid deduction and our net capital gain or loss, and (2) 90% of our after-tax net income, if any, from foreclosure property; minus

	•	the sum of certain items of non-cash income.

We must pay such distributions in the taxable year to which they relate, or in the following taxable year if we declare the distribution before we timely file our federal income tax return for such year and pay the distribution on or before the first regular dividend payment date after such declaration. Any dividends declared in the last three months of the taxable year, payable to stockholders of record on a specified date during such period, will be treated as paid on December 31 of such year if such dividends are distributed during January of the following year.

We will pay federal income tax on taxable income, including net capital gain, that we do not distribute to our stockholders. Furthermore, if we fail to distribute during a calendar year, or by the end of January following such calendar year in the case of distributions with declaration and record dates falling in the last three months of the calendar year, at least the sum of:


	•	85% of our REIT ordinary income for such year;

	•	95% of our REIT capital gain income for such year; and

	•	any undistributed taxable income from prior periods,

we will incur a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the excess of such required distribution over the amounts we actually distributed. We may elect to retain and pay income tax on the net long-term capital gain we receive in a taxable year. See “— Taxation of Taxable U.S. Stockholders.” If we so elect, we will be treated as having distributed any such retained amount for purposes of the 4% excise tax described above. We intend to make timely distributions sufficient to satisfy the annual distribution requirements.

It is possible that, from time to time, we may experience timing differences between (1) the actual receipt of income and actual payment of deductible expenses, and (2) the inclusion of that income and deduction of such expenses in arriving at our REIT taxable income. For example, under some of the percentage leases, the percentage rent is not due until after the end of the calendar quarter. In that case, we still would be required to recognize as income the excess of the percentage rent over the base rent paid by the lessee in the calendar quarter to which such excess relates. In addition, we may not deduct recognized capital losses from our “REIT taxable income.” Further, it is possible that, from time to time, we may be allocated a share of net capital gain attributable to the sale of depreciated property that exceeds our allocable share of cash attributable to that sale. As a result of the foregoing, we may have less cash than is necessary to distribute all of our taxable income and thereby avoid corporate income tax and the excise tax imposed on certain undistributed income. In such a situation, we may need to borrow funds or issue additional common or preferred shares.

Under certain circumstances, we may be able to correct a failure to meet the distribution requirement for a year by paying “deficiency dividends” to our stockholders in a later year. We may include such deficiency dividends in our deduction for dividends paid for the earlier year. Although we may be able to avoid income tax on amounts distributed as deficiency dividends, we will be required to pay interest to the Internal Revenue Service based upon the amount of any deduction we take for deficiency dividends.

Recordkeeping Requirements

To avoid a monetary penalty, we must request on an annual basis information from our stockholders designed to disclose the actual ownership of our outstanding shares of common stock. We intend to comply with such requirements.

Failure to Qualify

If we were to fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year, and no relief provision applied, we would be subject to federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate rates and any applicable alternative minimum tax. In calculating our taxable income in a year in which we failed to qualify as a REIT, we would not be able to deduct amounts paid out to stockholders. In fact, we would not be required to distribute any amounts to stockholders in such year. In such event, to the extent of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, all distributions to stockholders would be taxable as regular corporate dividends. Subject to certain limitations of the federal income tax laws, corporate stockholders might be eligible for the dividends received deduction. Unless we qualified for relief under specific statutory provisions, we also would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which we ceased to qualify as a REIT. We cannot predict whether in all circumstances we would qualify for such statutory relief.

Taxation of Taxable U.S. Stockholders

As used herein, the term “U.S. stockholder” means a holder of our common stock that for U.S. federal income tax purposes is:


	•	a citizen or resident of the United States;

	•	a corporation or partnership (including an entity treated as a corporation or partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes) created or organized in or under the laws of the United States or of a political subdivision thereof;

	•	an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income taxation regardless of its source; or

	•	any trust if (1) a U.S. court is able to exercise primary supervision over the administration of such trust and one or more U.S. persons have the authority to control all substantial decisions of the trust or (2) it has a valid election in place to be treated as a U.S. person.

As long as we qualify as a REIT, (1) a taxable “U.S. stockholder” must take into account distributions that are made out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits and that we do not designate as capital gain dividends or retained long-term capital gain as ordinary income, and (2) a U.S. stockholder will not qualify for the dividends received deduction generally available to corporations. In addition, dividends paid to a U.S. stockholder generally will not qualify for the new 15% tax rate for “qualified dividend income.” The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 reduced the maximum tax rate for non-corporate taxpayers on qualified dividend income from 38.6% to 15% for tax years 2003 through 2008. Without future congressional action, the maximum tax rate on qualified dividend income will move to 35% in 2009 and 39.6% in 2011. Qualified dividend income generally includes most U.S. noncorporate stockholders but does not generally include REIT dividends. As a result, our ordinary REIT dividends will continue to be taxed at the higher tax rate applicable to ordinary income. Currently, the highest marginal individual income tax rate on ordinary income is 35%. However, the 15% tax rate for qualified dividend income will apply to our ordinary REIT dividends, if any, that are (1) attributable to dividends received by us from non-REIT corporations, such as our TRS, and (2) attributable to income upon which we have paid corporate income tax (e.g., to the extent that we distribute less than 100% of our taxable income). In general, to qualify for the reduced tax rate on qualified dividend income, a stockholder must hold our common stock for more than 60 days during the 120-day period beginning on the date that is 60 days before the date on which our common stock becomes ex-dividend.

A U.S. stockholder generally will report distributions that we designate as capital gain dividends as long-term capital gain without regard to the period for which the U.S. stockholder has held our common stock. We

generally will designate our capital gain dividends as either 15% or 25% rate distributions. A corporate U.S. stockholder, however, may be required to treat up to 20% of certain capital gain dividends as ordinary income.

We may elect to retain and pay income tax on the net long-term capital gain that we receive in a taxable year. In that case, a U.S. stockholder would be taxed on its proportionate share of our undistributed long-term capital gain, to the extent that we designate such amount in a timely notice to such stockholder. The U.S. stockholder would receive a credit or refund for its proportionate share of the tax we paid. The U.S. stockholder would increase the basis in its common stock by the amount of its proportionate share of our undistributed long-term capital gain, minus its share of the tax we paid.

To the extent that we make a distribution in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits, such distribution will not be taxable to a U.S. stockholder to the extent that it does not exceed the adjusted tax basis of the U.S. stockholder’s common stock. Instead, such distribution will reduce the adjusted tax basis of such common stock. To the extent that we make a distribution in excess of both our current and accumulated earnings and profits and the U.S. stockholder’s adjusted tax basis in its common stock, such stockholder will recognize long-term capital gain, or short-term capital gain if the common stock has been held for one year or less, assuming the common stock is a capital asset in the hands of the U.S. stockholder. In addition, if we declare a distribution in October, November, or December of any year that is payable to a U.S. stockholder of record on a specified date in any such month, such distribution shall be treated as both paid by us and received by the U.S. stockholder on December 31 of such year, provided that we actually pay the distribution during January of the following calendar year.

Stockholders may not include in their individual income tax returns any of our net operating losses or capital losses. Instead, we would carry over such losses for potential offset against our future income generally. Taxable distributions from us and gain from the disposition of our common stock will not be treated as passive activity income, and, therefore, stockholders generally will not be able to apply any “passive activity losses,” such as losses from certain types of limited partnerships in which the stockholder is a limited partner, against such income. In addition, taxable distributions from us and gain from the disposition of the common stock generally will be treated as investment income for purposes of the investment interest limitations.

We will notify stockholders after the close of our taxable year as to the portions of the distributions attributable to that year that constitute ordinary income, return of capital, and capital gain.

Taxation of U.S. Stockholders on the Disposition of Common Stock

In general, a U.S. stockholder who is not a dealer in securities must treat any gain or loss realized upon a taxable disposition of our common stock as long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. stockholder has held the common stock for more than one year and otherwise as short-term capital gain or loss. However, a U.S. stockholder must treat any loss upon a sale or exchange of common stock held by such stockholder for six months or less as a long-term capital loss to the extent of any actual or deemed distributions from us that such U.S. stockholder previously has characterized as long-term capital gain. All or a portion of any loss that a U.S. stockholder realizes upon a taxable disposition of the common stock may be disallowed if the U.S. stockholder purchases other common stock within 30 days before or after the disposition.

Capital Gains and Losses

A taxpayer generally must hold a capital asset for more than one year for gain or loss derived from its sale or exchange to be treated as long-term capital gain or loss. The highest marginal individual income tax rate is 35%. The maximum tax rate on long-term capital gain applicable to non-corporate taxpayers is 15% for sales and exchanges of assets held for more than one year. The maximum tax rate on long-term capital gain from the sale or exchange of “section 1250 property,” or depreciable real property, is 25% to the extent that such gain would have been treated as ordinary income if the property were “section 1245 property.” With respect to distributions that we designate as capital gain dividends and any retained capital gain that we are deemed to distribute, we generally may designate whether such a distribution is taxable to our non-corporate stockholders at a 15% or 25% rate. Thus, the tax rate differential between capital gain and ordinary income for non-

corporate taxpayers may be significant. In addition, the characterization of income as capital gain or ordinary income may affect the deductibility of capital losses. A non-corporate taxpayer may deduct capital losses not offset by capital gains against its ordinary income only up to a maximum annual amount of $3,000. A non-corporate taxpayer may carry forward unused capital losses indefinitely. A corporate taxpayer must pay tax on its net capital gain at ordinary corporate rates. A corporate taxpayer may deduct capital losses only to the extent of capital gains, with unused losses being carried back three years and forward five years.

Information Reporting Requirements and Backup Withholding

We will report to our stockholders and to the Internal Revenue Service the amount of distributions we pay during each calendar year and the amount of tax we withhold, if any. Under the backup withholding rules, a stockholder may be subject to backup withholding at the rate of 28% with respect to distributions unless such holder:


	•	is a corporation or comes within certain other exempt categories and, when required, demonstrates this fact; or

	•	provides a taxpayer identification number, certifies as to no loss of exemption from backup withholding, and otherwise complies with the applicable requirements of the backup withholding rules.

A stockholder who does not provide us with its correct taxpayer identification number also may be subject to penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Service. Any amount paid as backup withholding will be creditable against the stockholder’s income tax liability. In addition, we may be required to withhold a portion of capital gain distributions to any stockholders who fail to certify their non-foreign status to us. See “— Taxation of Non-U.S. Stockholders.”

Taxation of Tax-Exempt Stockholders

Tax-exempt entities, including qualified employee pension and profit sharing trusts and individual retirement accounts, generally are exempt from federal income taxation. However, they are subject to taxation on their unrelated business taxable income. While many investments in real estate generate unrelated business taxable income, the Internal Revenue Service has issued a published ruling that dividend distributions from a REIT to an exempt employee pension trust do not constitute unrelated business taxable income, provided that the exempt employee pension trust does not otherwise use the shares of the REIT in an unrelated trade or business of the pension trust. Based on that ruling, amounts that we distribute to tax-exempt stockholders generally should not constitute unrelated business taxable income. However, if a tax-exempt stockholder were to finance its acquisition of our common stock with debt, a portion of the income that it receives from us would constitute unrelated business taxable income pursuant to the “debt-financed property” rules. Furthermore, social clubs, voluntary employee benefit associations, supplemental unemployment benefit trusts, and qualified group legal services plans that are exempt from taxation under special provisions of the federal income tax laws are subject to different unrelated business taxable income rules, which generally will require them to characterize distributions that they receive from us as unrelated business taxable income. Finally, if we are a “pension-held REIT,” a qualified employee pension or profit sharing trust that owns more than 10% of our shares of common stock is required to treat a percentage of the dividends that it receives from us as unrelated business taxable income. That percentage is equal to the gross income that we derive from an unrelated trade or business, determined as if we were a pension trust, divided by our total gross income for the year in which we pay the dividends. That rule applies to a pension trust holding more than 10% of our shares of common stock only if:


	•	the percentage of our dividends that the tax-exempt trust would be required to treat as unrelated business taxable income is at least 5%;

	•	we qualify as a REIT by reason of the modification of the rule requiring that no more than 50% of our common stock be owned by five or fewer individuals that allows the beneficiaries of the pension trust to be treated as holding our common stock in proportion to their actuarial interests in the pension trust (see “— Requirements for Qualification” above); and


	•	either (1) one pension trust owns more than 25% of the value of our common stock or (2) a group of pension trusts individually holding more than 10% of the value of our common stock collectively owns more than 50% of the value of our common stock.

The ownership and transfer restrictions in our charter reduce the risk that we may become a “pension-held REIT.”

Taxation of Non-U.S. Stockholders

The rules governing U.S. federal income taxation of nonresident alien individuals, foreign corporations, foreign partnerships, and other foreign stockholders (collectively, “non-U.S. stockholders”) are complex. This section is only a summary of such rules. We urge non-U.S. stockholders to consult their own tax advisors to determine the impact of federal, state, and local income tax laws on ownership of our common stock, including any reporting requirements.

A non-U.S. stockholder that receives a distribution that is not attributable to gain from our sale or exchange of U.S. real property interests, as defined below, and that we do not designate as a capital gain dividend will recognize ordinary income to the extent that we pay such distribution out of our current or accumulated earnings and profits. A withholding tax equal to 30% of the gross amount of the distribution ordinarily will apply to such distribution unless an applicable tax treaty reduces or eliminates the tax. However, if a distribution is treated as effectively connected with the non-U.S. stockholder’s conduct of a U.S. trade or business, the non-U.S. stockholder generally will be subject to federal income tax on the distribution at graduated rates, in the same manner as U.S. stockholders are taxed with respect to such distributions. A non-U.S. stockholder that is a corporation also may be subject to the 30% branch profits tax with respect to the distribution. We plan to withhold U.S. income tax at the rate of 30% on the gross amount of any such distribution paid to a non-U.S. stockholder unless either:


	•	a lower treaty rate applies and the non-U.S. stockholder files an IRS Form W-8BEN evidencing eligibility for that reduced rate with us; or

	•	the non-U.S. stockholder files an IRS Form W-8ECI with us claiming that the distribution is effectively connected income.

A non-U.S. stockholder will not incur tax on a distribution in excess of our current and accumulated earnings and profits if the excess portion of such distribution does not exceed the adjusted basis of its common stock. Instead, the excess portion of such distribution will reduce the adjusted basis of such common stock. A non-U.S. stockholder will be subject to tax on a distribution that exceeds both our current and accumulated earnings and profits and the adjusted basis of its common stock, if the non-U.S. stockholder otherwise would be subject to tax on gain from the sale or disposition of its common stock, as described below. Because we generally cannot determine at the time we make a distribution whether or not the distribution will exceed our current and accumulated earnings and profits, we normally will withhold tax on the entire amount of any distribution at the same rate as we would withhold on a dividend. However, a non-U.S. stockholder may obtain a refund of amounts that we withhold if we later determine that a distribution in fact exceeded our current and accumulated earnings and profits.

We must withhold 10% of any distribution that exceeds our current and accumulated earnings and profits. Consequently, although we intend to withhold at a rate of 30% on the entire amount of any distribution, to the extent that we do not do so, we will withhold at a rate of 10% on any portion of a distribution not subject to withholding at a rate of 30%.

For any year in which we qualify as a REIT, a non-U.S. stockholder will incur tax on distributions that are attributable to gain from our sale or exchange of “U.S. real property interests” under special provisions of the federal income tax laws referred to as “FIRPTA.” The term “U.S. real property interests” includes certain interests in real property and stock in corporations at least 50% of whose assets consists of interests in real property. Under those rules, a non-U.S. stockholder is taxed on distributions attributable to gain from sales of U.S. real property interests as if such gain were effectively connected with a U.S. business of the non-U.S. stockholder. A non-U.S. stockholder thus would be taxed on such a distribution at the normal

capital gains rates applicable to U.S. stockholders, subject to applicable alternative minimum tax and a special alternative minimum tax in the case of a nonresident alien individual. A non-U.S. corporate stockholder not entitled to treaty relief or exemption also may be subject to the 30% branch profits tax on such a distribution. We must withhold 35% of any distribution that we could designate as a capital gain dividend. A non-U.S. stockholder may receive a credit against its tax liability for the amount we withhold.

A non-U.S. stockholder generally will not incur tax under FIRPTA with respect to gain realized upon a disposition of our common stock as long as at all times non-U.S. persons hold, directly or indirectly, less than 50% in value of our common stock. We cannot assure you that that test will be met. However, a non-U.S. stockholder that owned, actually or constructively, 5% or less of our common stock at all times during a specified testing period will not incur tax under FIRPTA with respect to any such gain if the common stock is “regularly traded” on an established securities market. To the extent that our common stock will be regularly traded on an established securities market, a non-U.S. stockholder will not incur tax under FIRPTA unless it owns more than 5% of our common stock. If the gain on the sale of the common stock were taxed under FIRPTA, a non-U.S. stockholder would be taxed in the same manner as U.S. stockholders with respect to such gain, subject to applicable alternative minimum tax and a special alternative minimum tax in the case of nonresident alien individuals. Furthermore, a non-U.S. stockholder will incur tax on gain not subject to FIRPTA if (1) the gain is effectively connected with the non-U.S. stockholder’s U.S. trade or business, in which case the non-U.S. stockholder will be subject to the same treatment as U.S. stockholders with respect to such gain, or (2) the non-U.S. stockholder is a nonresident alien individual who was present in the U.S. for 183 days or more during the taxable year and has a “tax home” in the United States, in which case the non-U.S. stockholder will incur a 30% tax on his capital gains.

Other Tax Consequences


	*Tax Aspects of Our Investments in the Partnerships*

The following discussion summarizes certain federal income tax considerations applicable to our direct or indirect investments in the Partnerships. The discussion does not cover state or local tax laws or any federal tax laws other than income tax laws.

Classification as Partnerships. We are entitled to include in our income our distributive share of each Partnership’s income and to deduct our distributive share of each Partnership’s losses only if such Partnership is classified for federal income tax purposes as a partnership (or an entity that is disregarded for federal income tax purposes if the entity has only one owner or member), rather than as a corporation or an association taxable as a corporation. An organization with at least two owners or members will be classified as a partnership, rather than as a corporation, for federal income tax purposes if it:



	•	is treated as a partnership under Treasury regulations, effective January 1, 1997, relating to entity classification (the “check-the-box regulations”); and bb,2


	•	is not a “publicly traded” partnership.

Under the check-the-box regulations, an unincorporated entity with at least two owners or members may elect to be classified either as an association taxable as a corporation or as a partnership. If such an entity fails to make an election, it generally will be treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. Each Partnership intends to be classified as a partnership (or an entity that is disregarded for federal income tax purposes if the entity has only one owner or member) for federal income tax purposes, and no Partnership will elect to be treated as an association taxable as a corporation under the check-the-box regulations.

A publicly traded partnership is a partnership whose interests are traded on an established securities market or are readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof. A publicly traded partnership will not, however, be treated as a corporation for any taxable year if 90% or more of the partnership’s gross income for such year consists of certain passive-type income, including real property rents (which includes rents that would be qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, with certain modifications that make it easier for the rents to qualify for the 90% passive income exception), gains from the sale or other disposition of real property, interest, and dividends (the “90% passive income exception”).

Treasury regulations (the “PTP regulations”) provide limited safe harbors from the definition of a publicly traded partnership. Pursuant to one of those safe harbors (the “private placement exclusion”), interests in a partnership will not be treated as readily tradable on a secondary market or the substantial equivalent thereof if (1) all interests in the partnership were issued in a transaction or transactions that were not required to be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and (2) the partnership does not have more than 100 partners at any time during the partnership’s taxable year. In determining the number of partners in a partnership, a person owning an interest in a partnership, grantor trust, or S corporation that owns an interest in the partnership is treated as a partner in such partnership only if (1) substantially all of the value of the owner’s interest in the entity is attributable to the entity’s direct or indirect interest in the partnership and (2) a principal purpose of the use of the entity is to permit the partnership to satisfy the 100-partner limitation. Each Partnership qualifies for the private placement exclusion.

We have not requested, and do not intend to request, a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that the Partnerships will be classified as partnerships (or disregarded entities, if the entity has only one owner or member) for federal income tax purposes. If for any reason a Partnership were taxable as a corporation, rather than as a partnership or a disregarded entity, for federal income tax purposes, we likely would not be able to qualify as a REIT. See “Federal Income Tax Consequences of Our Status as a REIT — Income Tests” and “— Asset Tests.” In addition, any change in a Partnership’s status for tax purposes might be treated as a taxable event, in which case we might incur tax liability without any related cash distribution. See “Federal Income Tax Consequences of Our Status as a REIT — Distribution Requirements.” Further, items of income and deduction of such Partnership would not pass through to its partners, and its partners would be treated as stockholders for tax purposes. Consequently, such Partnership would be required to pay income tax at corporate rates on its net income, and distributions to its partners would constitute dividends that would not be deductible in computing such Partnership’s taxable income.

Income Taxation of the Partnerships and Their Partners

Partners, Not the Partnerships, Subject to Tax. A partnership is not a taxable entity for federal income tax purposes. Rather, we are required to take into account our allocable share of each Partnership’s income, gains, losses, deductions, and credits for any taxable year of such Partnership ending within or with our taxable year, without regard to whether we have received or will receive any distribution from such Partnership.

Partnership Allocations. Although a partnership agreement generally will determine the allocation of income and losses among partners, such allocations will be disregarded for tax purposes if they do not comply with the provisions of the federal income tax laws governing partnership allocations. If an allocation is not recognized for federal income tax purposes, the item subject to the allocation will be reallocated in accordance with the partners’ interests in the partnership, which will be determined by taking into account all of the facts and circumstances relating to the economic arrangement of the partners with respect to such item. Each Partnership’s allocations of taxable income, gain, and loss are intended to comply with the requirements of the federal income tax laws governing partnership allocations.

Tax Allocations With Respect to Contributed Properties. Income, gain, loss, and deduction attributable to appreciated or depreciated property that is contributed to a partnership in exchange for an interest in the partnership must be allocated in a manner such that the contributing partner is charged with, or benefits from, respectively, the unrealized gain or unrealized loss associated with the property at the time of the contribution. The amount of such unrealized gain or unrealized loss (“built-in gain” or “built-in loss”) is generally equal to the difference between the fair market value of the contributed property at the time of contribution and the adjusted tax basis of such property at the time of contribution (a “book-tax difference”). Such allocations are solely for federal income tax purposes and do not affect the book capital accounts or other economic or legal arrangements among the partners. The U.S. Treasury Department has issued regulations requiring partnerships to use a “reasonable method” for allocating items with respect to which there is a book-tax difference and outlining several reasonable allocation methods.

Under our operating partnership’s partnership agreement, depreciation or amortization deductions of the operating partnership generally will be allocated among the partners in accordance with their respective

interests in the operating partnership, except to the extent that the operating partnership is required under the federal income tax laws governing partnership allocations to use a method for allocating tax depreciation deductions attributable to contributed properties that results in our receiving a disproportionate share of such deductions. In addition, gain or loss on the sale of a property that has been contributed, in whole or in part, to the operating partnership will be specially allocated to the contributing partners to the extent of any built-in gain or loss with respect to such property for federal income tax purposes.

Basis in Partnership Interest. Our adjusted tax basis in our partnership interest in the operating partnership generally is equal to:


	•	the amount of cash and the basis of any other property contributed by us to the operating partnership;

	•	increased by our allocable share of the operating partnership’s income and our allocable share of indebtedness of the operating partnership; and

	•	reduced, but not below zero, by our allocable share of the operating partnership’s loss and the amount of cash distributed to us, and by constructive distributions resulting from a reduction in our share of indebtedness of the operating partnership.

If the allocation of our distributive share of the operating partnership’s loss would reduce the adjusted tax basis of our partnership interest in the operating partnership below zero, the recognition of such loss will be deferred until such time as the recognition of such loss would not reduce our adjusted tax basis below zero. To the extent that the operating partnership’s distributions, or any decrease in our share of the indebtedness of the operating partnership, which is considered a constructive cash distribution to the partners, reduce our adjusted tax basis below zero, such distributions will constitute taxable income to us. Such distributions and constructive distributions normally will be characterized as long-term capital gain.

Depreciation Deductions Available to the Operating Partnership. To the extent that the operating partnership acquires its hotels in exchange for cash, its initial basis in such hotels for federal income tax purposes generally was or will be equal to the purchase price paid by the operating partnership. The operating partnership depreciates such depreciable hotel property under either the modified accelerated cost recovery system of depreciation (“MACRS”) or the alternative depreciation system of depreciation (“ADS”). The operating partnership uses MACRS for furnishings and equipment. Under MACRS, the operating partnership generally depreciates such furnishings and equipment over a seven-year recovery period using a 200% declining balance method and a half-year convention. If, however, the operating partnership places more than 40% of its furnishings and equipment in service during the last three months of a taxable year, a mid-quarter depreciation convention must be used for the furnishings and equipment placed in service during that year. The operating partnership uses ADS for buildings and improvements. Under ADS, the operating partnership generally depreciates such buildings and improvements over a 40-year recovery period using a straight-line method and a mid-month convention.

To the extent that the operating partnership acquires hotels in exchange for its units of limited partnership interest, its initial basis in each hotel for federal income tax purposes should be the same as the transferor’s basis in that hotel on the date of acquisition. Although the law is not entirely clear, the operating partnership generally depreciates such depreciable property for federal income tax purposes over the same remaining useful lives and under the same methods used by the transferors. The operating partnership’s tax depreciation deductions are allocated among the partners in accordance with their respective interests in the operating partnership, except to the extent that the operating partnership is required under the federal income tax laws to use a method for allocating depreciation deductions attributable to the hotels or other contributed properties that results in our receiving a disproportionately large share of such deductions.

Sale of a Partnership’s Property

Generally, any gain realized by us or a Partnership on the sale of property held for more than one year will be long-term capital gain, except for any portion of such gain that is treated as depreciation or cost recovery recapture. Any gain or loss recognized by a Partnership on the disposition of contributed properties will be allocated first to the partners who contributed such properties to the extent of their built-in gain or loss on

those properties for federal income tax purposes. The partners’ built-in gain or loss on such contributed properties will equal the difference between the partners’ proportionate share of the book value of those properties and the partners’ tax basis allocable to those properties at the time of the contribution. Any remaining gain or loss recognized by the Partnership on the disposition of the contributed properties, and any gain or loss recognized by the Partnership on the disposition of the other properties, will be allocated among the partners in accordance with their respective percentage interests in the Partnership.

Our share of any gain realized by a Partnership on the sale of any property held by the Partnership as inventory or other property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of the Partnership’s trade or business will be treated as income from a prohibited transaction that is subject to a 100% penalty tax. Such prohibited transaction income also may have an adverse effect upon our ability to satisfy the income tests for REIT status. See “Federal Income Tax Consequences of Our Status as a REIT — Income Tests.” We, however, do not presently intend to acquire or hold or to allow any Partnership to acquire or hold any property that represents inventory or other property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of our or such Partnership’s trade or business.

Taxable REIT Subsidiaries

As described above, we own 100% of the stock of our TRS, Ashford TRS Corporation. A TRS is a fully taxable corporation for which a TRS election is properly made. A TRS may lease hotels from us under certain circumstances, provide services to our tenants, and perform activities unrelated to our tenants, such as third-party management, development, and other independent business activities. A corporation of which a TRS directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a TRS. Overall, no more than 20% of the value of our assets may consist of securities of one or more TRSs, and no more than 25% of the value of our assets may consist of the securities of TRSs and other assets that are not qualifying assets for purposes of the 75% asset test.

A TRS may not directly or indirectly operate or manage any hotels or health care facilities or provide rights to any brand name under which any hotel or health care facility is operated. However, rents received by us from a TRS pursuant to a hotel lease will qualify as “rents from real property” as long as the hotel is operated on behalf of the TRS by a person who satisfies the following requirements:


	•	such person is, or is related to a person who is, actively engaged in the trade or business of operating “qualified lodging facilities” for any person unrelated to us and the TRS;

	•	such person does not own, directly or indirectly, more than 35% of our common stock;

	•	no more than 35% of such person is owned, directly or indirectly, by one or more persons owning 35% or more of our common stock; and

	•	we do not directly or indirectly derive any income from such person.

A “qualified lodging facility” is a hotel, motel, or other establishment more than one-half of the dwelling units in which are used on a transient basis, unless wagering activities are conducted at or in connection with such facility by any person who is engaged in the business of accepting wagers and who is legally authorized to engage in such business at or in connection with such facility. A “qualified lodging facility” includes customary amenities and facilities operated as part of, or associated with, the lodging facility as long as such amenities and facilities are customary for other properties of a comparable size and class owned by other unrelated owners.

The TRS rules limit the deductibility of interest paid or accrued by a TRS to us to assure that the TRS is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. Further, the rules impose a 100% excise tax on transactions between a TRS and us or our tenants that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis.

We have formed and made a timely election with respect to Ashford TRS Corporation, which leases each of our properties. Additionally, we may form or acquire additional TRSs in the future.

State and Local Taxes

We and/or you may be subject to state and local tax in various states and localities, including those states and localities in which we or you transact business, own property, or reside. The state and local tax treatment in such jurisdictions may differ from the federal income tax treatment described above. Consequently, you should consult your own tax advisor regarding the effect of state and local tax laws upon an investment in our common stock.

PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION

We may sell our securities domestically or abroad, through underwriters, dealers or agents, or directly, or through any combination of those methods. The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the terms of the offering that it applies to, including the names of any underwriters, dealers or agents, the purchase price for our securities, and the proceeds we expect to receive. It will also include any delayed delivery arrangements, any underwriting discounts and other items constituting underwriters’ compensation, the initial public offering price, any discounts or concessions allowed or re-allowed or paid to dealers, and a list of any securities exchanges on which the securities offered may be listed.

If we use underwriters in any sale, our securities will be purchased by the underwriters or dealers for their own account and may be resold from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions, at a fixed public offering price or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. Our securities may be offered to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by one or more managing underwriters or directly by one or more firms acting as underwriters. The underwriters with respect to a particular underwritten offering will be named in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to that offering. If an underwriting syndicate is used, the managing underwriter or underwriters will be disclosed on the cover of the applicable prospectus supplement. Generally, the obligations of the underwriters or agents to purchase the securities that we offer will be subject to conditions precedent, and the underwriters will have to purchase all of the offered securities if any are purchased. The initial public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or re-allowed or paid to dealers may be changed from time to time.

If we use dealers to sell our securities, we will sell our securities to the dealers as principals. The dealers may then resell our securities to the public at varying prices that they determine at the time of resale. We will disclose the names of the dealers and the terms of the transaction in the applicable prospectus supplement.

We may sell the securities through agents that we designate from time to time at fixed prices that may be changed, or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. We will name any agent involved in the offer or sale of our securities and specify any commissions that we will pay them. Unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, any agent will be acting on a best efforts basis for the period of its appointment.

We may sell up to 2,400,000 shares of common stock from time to time through Brinson Patrick Securities Corporation, as sales manager. These sales, if any, will be made pursuant to a sales agreement between us and the sales manager, a copy of which has been attached as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part. Sales of our common shares under this prospectus, if any, may be made on or through the facilities of the New York Stock Exchange, to or through a market maker, or to or through an electronic communications network, at prices prevailing at the time of the sale, or in any other manner permitted by law (including, without limitation, privately negotiated transactions). These sales will be made by the sales manager on a best efforts basis. The compensation to Brinson Patrick Securities Corporation, as the sales manager for sales of up to 2,400,000 shares of our common stock shall be at a commission rate ranging from 3.0% to 2.0% of the gross sales price per share of common stock sold, depending upon the aggregate annual proceeds raised by the sales manager. In connection with the sale of common shares on our behalf, the sales manager will be deemed to be an “underwriter” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the compensation of the sales manager may be deemed to be underwriting commissions or discounts. We have agreed to provide indemnification and contribution to the sales manager against liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

The following table shows the public offering price, underwriting commissions and proceeds, before expenses, to us, assuming all 2,400,000 common shares subject to the sales agreement are sold by the sales manager at $8.62 per share, the last reported sales price of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on August 30, 2004.


	Per Share*		Total

Public offering price:	$	8.62	$	20,688,000
Underwrting commissions:	$	0.26	$	624,000
(3%)
Proceeds, before expenses to us:	$	8.36	$	20,064,000


*	This assumes an offering that will be made, if at all, from time to time at the then-prevailing market prices. Therefore, there can be no assurances that the public offering price, underwriting commissions, and proceeds, before expenses, will be as set forth above. The commissions are computed based upon the highest applicable rate under the sales agreement.

Underwriters or agents may be paid by us or by purchasers of our securities for whom they act as agents in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions. Underwriters, agents and dealers participating in the distribution of our securities may all be deemed to be underwriters, and any discounts or commissions that they receive, as well as profit they receive on the resale of our securities, may be deemed to be underwriting discounts or commissions under the Securities Act of 1933.

A prospectus supplement may indicate that we will authorize agents, underwriters or dealers to solicit from specified types of institutions offers to purchase our securities at the public offering price set forth in the prospectus supplement pursuant to delayed delivery contracts permitting payment and delivery on a specified future date. The prospectus supplement will describe conditions of any delayed delivery contracts, as well as the commission we will pay for solicitation of these contracts.

Some or all of the securities that we offer though this prospectus may be new issues of securities with no established trading market. Any underwriters to whom we sell our securities for public offering and sale may make a market in those securities, but they will not be obligated to and they may discontinue any market making at any time without notice. Accordingly, we cannot assure you of the liquidity of, or continued trading markets for, any securities that we offer.

In order to facilitate the offering of our securities, any underwriters or agents involved in the offering may engage in transactions that stabilize, maintain or otherwise affect the price of our securities, or other securities that affect payments on our securities. Specifically, the underwriters or agents may overallot in connection with the offering, creating a short position for their own account. In addition, to cover overallotments or to stabilize the price of our securities, or other securities that affect payments on our securities, the underwriters or agents may bid for and purchase the securities in the open market. In any offering of our securities through a syndicate of underwriters, the underwriting syndicate may reclaim selling concessions allowed to an underwriter or dealer for distributing our securities if the syndicate repurchases previously distributed securities in transactions to cover syndicate short positions, in stabilizing transactions or otherwise. Any of these activities may stabilize or maintain the market price of our securities above independent market levels. The underwriters or agents are not required to engage in these activities, and may end any of these activities at any time.

Agents, dealers and underwriters may be entitled to be indemnified by us against specified civil liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act of 1933, or to contribution with respect to payments that they may be required to make.

Any underwriters, dealers or agents that we use, as well as their affiliates, may engage in transactions with us or perform services for us in the ordinary course of business.

EXPERTS

The consolidated balance sheet of Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc. as of December 31, 2003 and the combined balance sheet of the predecessor as of December 31, 2002, and Ashford Hospitality Trust, Inc.’s consolidated statements of operations, owners’ equity, and cash flows for the period from August 29, 2003 (inception) to December 31, 2003, and the predecessor’s combined statements of operations, owner’s equity, and cash flows for the period from January 1, 2003 to August 28, 2003, and the years ended December 31, 2002 and 2001 and related schedule, incorporated by reference into this prospectus have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent auditors, as set forth in their report, which is also incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

The Historical Summaries of Revenue and Direct Operating Expenses of Marriott Residence Inn in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Sea Turtle Inn in Atlantic Beach, Florida, Sheraton Bucks County Hotel and adjacent office complex in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Baltimore, Maryland, incorporated by reference into this prospectus, have been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent auditors, as set forth in their reports, which are also incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and are included in reliance upon such reports given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

The Combined Historical Summary of Revenue and Direct Operating Expenses of Hampton Inn in Buford, Georgia, SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Buford Georgia, Fairfield Inn & Suites in Kennesaw, Georgia and SpringHill Suites by Marriott in Kennesaw, Georgia, incorporated by reference into this prospectus, have been audited by Holland Shipes Vann, P.C., independent auditors, as set forth in their report, which is also incorporated by reference into this prospectus, and are included in reliance upon such report given on the authority of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.

LEGAL MATTERS

Certain legal matters in connection with this offering will be passed upon for us by Andrews Kurth LLP, Dallas, Texas. In addition, the description of federal income tax consequences contained in the section of the prospectus entitled “Federal Income Tax Consequences of Our Status as a REIT” is based on the opinion of Andrews Kurth LLP. Certain Maryland law matters in connection with this offering will be passed upon for us by Hogan & Hartson L.L.P., Baltimore, Maryland. Andrews Kurth LLP will rely on the opinion of Hogan & Hartson L.L.P., Baltimore, Maryland as to all matters of Maryland law. The wife of Mr. David Kimichik, our Chief Financial Officer, is a partner at Andrews Kurth.

PART II

INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS

Item 14. Other Expenses of Issuance and Distribution

The following table itemizes the costs and expenses, other than underwriting discounts and commissions, payable by us in connection with the issuance and registration of the securities being registered hereunder. All amounts shown are estimates except the Securities and Exchange Commission registration fee.


SEC Registration Fee		$	44,345
NYSE Fees			5,000
Printing Expenses			100,000	*
Legal Fees and Expenses			300,000	*
Blue Sky Fees and Expenses			15,000	*
Accounting and Fees and Expenses			100,000	*
Trustee’s Fees and Expenses			15,000	*
Miscellaneous			20,655	*

	Total	$	600,000


*	Fees are estimates only.

Item 15. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Our charter and the partnership agreement provide for indemnification of our officers and directors against liabilities to the fullest extent permitted by the MGCL, as amended from time to time.

The MGCL requires a corporation (unless its charter provides otherwise, which our company’s charter does not) to indemnify a director or officer who has been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made a party by reason of his or her service in that capacity. The MGCL permits a corporation to indemnify its present and former directors and officers, among others, against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by them in connection with any proceeding to which they may be made a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that:


	•	an act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and:



	•	was committed in bad faith; or



	•	was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty;


	•	the director or officer actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services; or

	•	in the case of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful.

However, under the MGCL, a Maryland corporation may not indemnify for an adverse judgment in a suit by or in the right of the corporation or for a judgment of liability on the basis that personal benefit was improperly received, unless in either case a court orders indemnification and then only for expenses. In addition, the MGCL permits a corporation to advance reasonable expenses to a director or officer upon the corporation’s receipt of:


	•	a written affirmation by the director or officer of his good faith belief that he has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the corporation; and

	•	a written undertaking by the director or on the director’s behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the corporation if it is ultimately determined that the director did not meet the standard of conduct.

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	•	any present or former director or officer who is made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity; or

	•	any individual who, while a director or officer of our company and at our request, serves or has served another corporation, real estate investment trust, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or any other enterprise as a director, officer, partner or trustee of such corporation, real estate investment trust, partnership,

Our charter and bylaws also permit us to indemnify and advance expenses to any person who served a predecessor of ours in any of the capacities described above and to any employee or agent of our company or a predecessor of our company.

The partnership agreement of our operating partnership provides that we, as general partner, and our officers and directors are indemnified to the fullest extent permitted by law.

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Item 16. Exhibits.

The following exhibits are filed as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this registration statement on Form S-3:


Exhibit
Number			Description of Exhibit

	**1	.1	Sales Agency Agreement with Brinson Patrick Securities Corporation
	*1	.2	Form of Common Stock Underwriting Agreement
	*1	.3	Form of Preferred Stock Underwriting Agreement
	*1	.4	Form of Debt Securities Underwriting Agreement
	*1	.5	Form of Warrant Underwriting Agreement
	*4	.1	Form of Indenture
	*4	.2	Form of Debt Security
	*4	.3	Form of Warrant Agreement
	**5	.1	Opinion of Hogan & Hartson with respect to the legality of the common stock and preferred stock being registered
	**5	.2	Opinion of Andrews Kurth with respect to the legality of debt securities and warrants being registered
	**8	.1	Opinion of Andrews Kurth LLP with respect to tax matters
	**12	.1	Statement regarding Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Combined Fixed Charges
	**23	.1	Consent of Hogan & Hartson (included in Exhibit 5.1)
	**23	.2	Consent of Andrews Kurth (included in Exhibits 5.2 and 8.1)
	**23	.3	Consent of Ernst & Young LLP
	**23	.4	Consent of Holland Shipes Vann, P.C.
	***24	.1	Power of Attorney
	*25	.1	Form T-1 Statement of Eligibility of the Trustee



*	To be filed by amendment or incorporated by reference in connection with the offering of any securities, as appropriate.



**	Filed herewith.



***	Previously filed.

Item 17. Undertakings.

(a) The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:


	(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:



	(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933;



	(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

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	(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in this registration statement;


	provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement.



	(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.



	(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

(b) The undersigned registrant hereby further undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act of 1933 may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the provisions described in Item 15 above, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

(d) The undersigned registrant hereby further undertakes that:



	(1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933 the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the Registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) under the Securities Act of 1933 shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective.



	(2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of the securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(e) The undersigned registrant hereby further undertakes to file an application for the purpose of determining the eligibility of the trustee to act under subsection (a) of Section 310 of the Trust Indenture Act in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed by the Commission under Section 305(b)(2) of the Act.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that the registrant meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-3 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Dallas, State of Texas, on this 30th day of August, 2004.


	ASHFORD HOSPITALITY TRUST, INC.


	By:	/s/ DAVID KIMICHIK



	David Kimichik
	Chief Financial Officer

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities and on the dates indicated.



Signature	Title	Date


* Archie Bennett, Jr.	Chairman of the Board of Directors	August 30, 2004

* Montgomery J. Bennett	Chief Executive Officer, President and Director (Principal Executive Officer)	August 30, 2004

* David Kimichik	Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)	August 30, 2004

* Mark Nunneley	Chief Accounting Officer (Principal Accounting Officer)	August 30, 2004

* Martin L. Edelman	Director	August 30, 2004

* W.D. Minami	Director	August 30, 2004

* W. Michael Murphy	Director	August 30, 2004

* Philip S. Payne	Director	August 30, 2004

* Charles S. Toppino	Director	August 30, 2004

/s/ DAVID A. BROOKS David A. Brooks Attorney-in-Fact

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EXHIBIT INDEX


Exhibit
Number			Description of Exhibit

	**1	.1	Sales Agency Agreement with Brinson Patrick Securities Corporation
	*1	.2	Form of Common Stock Underwriting Agreement
	*1	.3	Form of Preferred Stock Underwriting Agreement
	*1	.4	Form of Debt Securities Underwriting Agreement
	*1	.5	Form of Warrant Underwriting Agreement
	*4	.1	Form of Indenture
	*4	.2	Form of Debt Security
	*4	.3	Form of Warrant Agreement
	**5	.1	Opinion of Hogan & Hartson with respect to the legality of the common stock and preferred stock being registered
	**5	.2	Opinion of Andrews Kurth with respect to the legality of debt securities and warrants being registered
	**8	.1	Opinion of Andrews Kurth LLP with respect to tax matters
	**12	.1	Statement regarding Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Combined Fixed Charges
	**23	.1	Consent of Hogan & Hartson (included in Exhibit 5.1)
	**23	.2	Consent of Andrews Kurth (included in Exhibits 5.2 and 8.1)
	**23	.3	Consent of Ernst & Young LLP
	**23	.4	Consent of Holland Shipes Vann, P.C.
	***24	.1	Power of Attorney
	*25	.1	Form T-1 Statement of Eligibility of the Trustee



*	To be filed by amendment or incorporated by reference in connection with the offering of any securities, as appropriate.



**	Filed herewith.


***	Previously filed.