THE SHERATON ATLANTA HOTEL BREAKS GROUND ON 33,000-SQUARE-FOOT CONFERENCE CENTER ADDITION

ATLANTA (February 10, 2004) - Joined by Mayor Shirley Franklin and Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau President Spurgeon Richardson, the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel Managing Director Paul Breslin commemorated today the hotel's groundbreaking of its 33,000-square-foot conference center addition. Upon the center's completion, projected for mid-summer 2004, the hotel will offer a total of 83,000 square feet of meeting and event space and 760 guest rooms and suites, making it the fifth-largest hotel in Atlanta.

This brings the total upgrade expenditures for the hotel to $43.5 million since the current owners purchased the property in 1999. This latest project, which commenced in December 2003, calls for an $8.5 million meeting space addition that will connect the existing north and south towers.

"We are eager to complete this phase of developing the 'new' Sheraton Atlanta Hotel," said Breslin. "Since 1999, we've taken consistent steps to revitalize the property, which we believe is not only important to our guests, but also to the surrounding area.

"We look forward to unveiling the new center this year and continuing to support Atlanta's tourism and convention economy as well as the vitality of downtown," Breslin continued.

The new facility will offer a 15,000-square-foot ballroom, 8,000 square feet of pre-function space, as well as a 6,000-square-foot conference area with four break-out rooms ranging in size from 1,134 to 1,638 square feet. The new space will allow the hotel to accommodate up to 800 guests, banquet-style, and accommodate everything from product launches and large corporate groups to intimate board meetings, training seminars and company retreats. In addition, the new facility also will boast street-level access to ease the transport of large equipment into the new ballroom.

The Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, owned by Amerimar Enterprises, Inc. and Angelo, Gordon & Co., is located in the heart of lively downtown Atlanta, two blocks from Peachtree Street. Featuring contemporary American designs and styles, the hotel redefines accommodations for the next century.