REal Talk with Adam Perrotta-Thursday

On the heels of the announcement of a new $1.5 billion entity by CNL and Macquarie entering the investment market, yet another player has joined the ranks of the bargain hunters. Ardent Hotel Investors, a partnership between Ardent Hotel Advisors and Steven Surgent, will operate in the value-added hospitality sector. Given Ardent's experience as a property manager, the firm certainly knows how to operate on the ground level.

Interestingly, the new firm is keeping the purse strings closed for the time being, figuring that the market has yet to reach bottom and opting to hold out until the floor is reached. The danger of that approach, of course, is that the only way you know you've hit the floor is when prices bounce back up. Given the number of new entities targeting distressed and priced-down assets as of late, Ardent may find its buying hand forced sooner than planned.