03-05-07 Silver Companies will Develop Florida's First New-Build Hyatt Place™ Hotel in Jacksonville, FL

JACKSONVILLE, FL / BOCA RATON, FL / METRO WASHINGTON D.C. – March 5, 2007 – Silver Companies announced today that construction for one of Florida’s first new-build Hyatt Place™ hotels will begin this summer. The hotel site is located in Jacksonville, Fla., along Duval and Ranch roads and adjacent to Jacksonville International Airport.

Silver Companies -- a master real estate development and investment firm based in Boca Raton, Fla. and Metro Washington, D.C. -- was among the first to be awarded a series of Hyatt Place™franchises, a brand new hotel concept presented by Global Hyatt Corporation.

Master-planned by Silver Companies and jointly developed with the MMI Hotel Group, the 127-room Jacksonville Hyatt Place™is expected to open 4th Quarter 2008.

“We are extremely excited to bring Hyatt Place™to Jacksonville, Fla.,” said Silver Companies CEO Larry D. Silver. “The name Hyatt signifies quality. It is a brand that we have long admired, and the design and features of this new concept are ones we think will be extremely attractive to travelers, whether guests are traveling for business or with their families for pleasure.”

Every Hyatt Place™ hotel will feature a wide range of new services and amenities to help guests seamlessly continue their everyday life in an environment specially crafted to help them be more productive, relaxed and fulfilled.  Similar to what travelers might experience at home, guests can spread out in their spacious, contemporary guestrooms, taking advantage of free Wi-Fi access while stretching out on the eight-foot Cozy Corner sectional sleeper sofa or working at an oversized work desk in an ergonomic chair.  They can also catch the evening news, the big game or the latest feature movies on the 42-inch flat panel, high-definition television offering 11 channels of high-definition programming in addition to more than 30 channels.  Hyatt Place guests can stay connected through the innovative Hyatt Plug Panel, which allows guests to connect their own entertainment media to the high-definition TV, including laptops, MP3 players, DVD players or any other portable device.  Hyatt’s signature Grand Bed™ also ensure guests enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep in the bedroom area.

Hyatt Place™ hotels also feature the Gallery, an innovative welcoming arrival area where guests are personally greeting by the Gallery Host, a dynamic new position in the hospitality industry –
that encompasses everything from guest check-in to giving personal tours of the hotel. 

In the Gallery, guest will also find a self-registration kiosk, an intimate coffee and wine café and bakery, free Wi-Fi, a TV den and an e-room with free access to a public computer and printer.  Guests at Hyatt Place™may purchase signature hot breakfast entrées along with Starbucks® specialty coffees or enjoy a free continental breakfast.  Hyatt Place™ also offers a variety of freshly prepared, café quality items, including made-to-order entrées, sandwiches, soups, salads and pizza which guests can order 24 hours a day, seven days a week via a touch screen menu in the Guest Kitchen or from the Gallery Host.

In addition to the Hyatt Place™, the Silver Companies’ site has two out-parcels available to develop. Plans for a restaurant are among the potential amenities the company is currently exploring. Interested parties should contact Denny Weiss in Silver Companies’ Florida office at 561-981-5252.

About Silver Companies
Silver Companies is a Boca Raton, Fla. and Metro Washington, D.C.–based master developer of large commercial and residential land tracts and a diversified real estate investment firm. Since 1941, Silver Companies has built an impressive private enterprise with commercial development approaching 11 million sq. ft. and residential site development totaling more than 50,000 units. In addition, the company’s private equity division has provided more than $1 billion in capital to builders and developers during the last six years. Silver Companies is led by CEO Larry D. Silver and is backed by teams of division presidents, engineers, contractors, project managers, lending, leasing and acquisitions professionals and nationally-recognized strategic partners. For more information, visit www.silvercompanies.com.

About MMI Hotel Group
MMI Hotel Group is a 50-year old company recognized by its peers as a leader and innovator in the hospitality industry.  MMI was founded in 1956 with the operation of its first property -- a Holiday Inn in Meridian, Mississippi (among this national chain's first Inns). Much has changed at MMI and in the industry since. Yet MMI's founding principal of excellence in every facet of operations and its firm belief that "the guest is our true boss," will never change. MMI is comprised of two distinct, yet fully interdependent and complementing divisions: MMI Hotel Group and MMI Dining Systems. Together, the two divisions own, manage or serve over 100 locations in the southeast U.S., bringing the MMI commitment to excellence to tens of thousands of guests each day.

About Global Hyatt Corporation
There are 214 Hyatt branded hotels and resorts (over 90,000 rooms) in 43 countries around the world, operating under the Hyatt®, Hyatt Regency®, Grand Hyatt® and Park Hyatt®  brands. Currently, there are an additional 43 Hyatt hotels and resorts under development, including 15 new hotels in China. Global Hyatt Corporation is also the owner of Hyatt Vacation Ownership, Inc. operator of the 12 Hyatt Vacation Club timeshare and fractional residential properties, Hyatt Equities, L.L.C. (hotel ownership), Select Hotels Group L.L.C. (which owns, manages and franchises 163 AmeriSuites hotels, Hyatt Place and Summerfield Suites hotels) and U.S. Franchise Systems, Inc. (which franchises 95 Hawthorn Suites, and 272 Microtel Inns and Suites).

From the U.S. and Canada, reservations for any Hyatt hotel worldwide may be obtained by calling 1-800-233-1234 or logging onto www.hyatt.com.

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