Hotel Law Blog

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
21 June 2008

Hospitality Attorney's top insights to hotel industry. As we approach the half-way mark in 2008, the hospitality lawyers in JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® thought it would be interesting to determine our readers' "top picks" of all the articles we have posted this year. We could almost say that the top three picks are hotel financing, hotel financing and hotel financing. But here are the top three picks by "Topics" at www.HotelLawBlog.com:

(1) Hotel financing and hotel values in buy-sell transactions

(2) Hotel management agreements

(3) LEED and GREEN hotel development

Continue reading "Top picks of hospitality lawyer insights in 2008 are: (1) hotel financing and hotel values in buy-sell transactions, (2) hotel management agreements, and (3) LEED & GREEN hotel development" »

Posted In: Ask the Hotel Lawyer™, Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™, Hotel Finance − Hotel Debt & Hotel Equity , Hotel Management Agreements, Meet the Money®, Outlook and Trends

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
19 June 2008

Hospitality Lawyer on green hotel development. Here at www.HotelLawBlog.com, we have a rich library of articles on green hotel development. (Just go to the blog, search down the right hand side for "Topics" and then click on "Green Hotels.") But as we now release the DVDs from our recent conference on green hotels -- which are free to all conference attendees -- we thought many of our readers would like to see the major PowerPoint presentations from our high-powered speakers, so we have published them here for your benefit. You will not want to miss this series of important presentations!

Deirdre Wallace is the Founder and President of The Ambrose Collection, a Santa Monica-based company focused on developing and managing eco-lifestyle boutique hotels. Her flagship property, The Ambrose, has won numerous awards since opening in 2003, setting a new industry standard for environmental responsibility while regularly outperforming competitors in both occupancy rate and gross revenues. Deirdre Wallace can be reached at (310) 382-2145 or deirdre@ambrosecollection.com.

In her own words, Deirdre Wallace shares with us her experience of "going green" in an already existing building.

Continue reading "Hospitality Lawyer talks with Ambrose Collection's Deirdre Wallace on going Green with an Existing Building" »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
30 May 2008

Hospitality Attorneys on green hotel development. We have a rich library of articles on green hotel development here at www.HotelLawBlog.com. (Just go to the blog, search down the right hand side for "Topics" and then click on "Green Hotels."). But as we now publish the DVDs from our recent conference on green hotels -- which are free to all conference attendees -- we thought many of our readers would like to see the major PowerPoint presentations from our high-powered speakers, so we have published them here for your benefit. You will not want to miss this series of important presentations! Here is the presentation from Gary Golla of SERA.

Gary Golla is an Architect and Associate with SERA Architects in Portland, Oregon. SERA is a 90-person employee-owned Architecture, Planning, and Interiors firm with a special focus on sustainable design and development. Gary has 14 years of experience in architecture, much of it focused on hospitality design. His portfolio includes over 2,000 built guestrooms ranging from a 900-room convention center hotel to a 50-room ski resort. Gary is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional and has several LEED registered projects in design and construction. Among those is a 331-room Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel and a 256-room Courtyard by Marriott, both designed with the goal of LEED Silver. Gary Golla can be reached at (503) 445-7361 or garyg@serapdx.com.

Continue reading "JMBM's Hospitality Attorneys with case studies of the compelling economics of Green Hotel Development by Gary Golla of SERA" »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
28 May 2008

Hospitality lawyer on the real world cost of going green. "Cost" is the first and biggest excuse developers give for not getting LEED certification or beyond. Yet here is an actual case study of a real world project where the client actually saved several million dollars by building to the LEED Platinum standard! In this case, the magnitude of the savings was enhanced by special credits and incentives available from the State of Oregon, but Kip Richardson says there would still have been net savings of over $1 million without Oregon's special benefits.

How can this be? Why wouldn't everyone build a high performance LEED-certified building if they could save money? Is this just a matter of education or of dispelling old myths left over from first generation technologies now surpassed by second and third generation technologies? Here are some insights from a true leader in the field: Kip Richardson, Director of Business Development, Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects. Kip can be reached at (503) 892-7138 or kipr@amaa.com.

Continue reading "The Mirabella -- Hotel attorneys with a real world project where client saved by going LEED Platinum" »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
27 May 2008

Hospitality Lawyer on green hotel development. We have a rich library of articles on green hotel development here at www.HotelLawBlog.com. (Just go to the blog, search down the right hand side for "Topics" and then click on "Green Hotels."). But as we now publish the DVDs from our recent conference on green hotels -- which are free to all conference attendees -- we thought many of our readers would like to see the major PowerPoint presentations from our high-powered speakers, so we have published them here for your benefit. You will not want to miss this series of important presentations!

Here is the complete presentation at The Hotel Developers Conference from Lynn. N. Simon, AIA, LEED AP, President, Simon & Associates, Inc. based in San Francisco, California. She has more than 18 years of experience in green building and helps clients attain LEED certification and sustainability. A California-licensed architect, Lynn has served on the Board of Directors of several building industry organizations, including the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) for six years. She is a LEED® Faculty member, a LEED® Accredited Professional, and a Certified Green Building Professional. Lynn can be reached at 415-908-3757 or lynn@greenbuild.com.

Continue reading "How to get LEED certification for your hotel. Hotel Attorney on GREEN hotel development: The green consultant's perspective." »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
25 May 2008

Going "Beyond LEED" in green hotel development. What do hospitality attorneys know about green hotel development, much less going "Beyond LEED"? Here at www.HotelLawBlog.com, we have a rich library of articles on green hotel development. (Just go to the blog, search down the right hand side for "Topics" and then click on "Green Hotels."). But as we now publish the DVDs from our recent conference on green hotels -- which are free to all conference attendees -- we thought many of our readers would like to see the major PowerPoint presentations from our high-powered speakers, so we have published them here for your benefit. You will not want to miss this series of important presentations! (see The Hotel Developers Conference 2008 at www.jmbm.com/ghg/conferences presented by the hotel lawyers of JMBM).

Here is the full presentation from The Hotel Developers Conference 2008 of Kip Richardson, Director of Business Development, Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects -- WITH speaker notes. Kip is truly one of our "go-to" resources for green hotel development. His presentation talks about LEED -- the de facto green standard, but then goes beyond those standards into an exciting exciting new arena of Sustainable Design including current successes and development on mimicking nature. Kip Richardson, Director of Business Development, Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects. Kip can be reached at (503) 892-7138 or kipr@amaa.com.

Continue reading "Green Hotel Development -- Going "Beyond LEED" with JMBM's hotel attorneys" »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
21 May 2008

Hospitality Lawyer on green hotel development. Here at www.HotelLawBlog.com, we have a rich library of articles on green hotel development. (Just go to the blog, search down the right hand side for "Topics" and then click on "Green Hotels."). But as we now publish the DVDs from our recent conference on green hotels -- which are free to all conference attendees -- we thought many of our readers would like to see the major PowerPoint presentations from our high-powered speakers, so we have published them here for your benefit. You will not want to miss this series of important presentations! Here is Stefan Mühle's slideshow on two successful case studies of developing and converting LEED-certified hotels.

Continue reading "Hospitality Lawyer with successful case studies on green hotel development and renovation - The Orchards" »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
20 May 2008

Hospitality Lawyer on green hotel development. Here at www.HotelLawBlog.com, we have a rich library of articles on green hotel development. (Just go to the blog, search down the right hand side for "Topics" and then click on "Green Hotels."). But as we now publish the DVDs from our recent conference on green hotels -- which are free to all conference attendees -- we thought many of our readers would like to see the major PowerPoint presentations from our high-powered speakers, so we have published them for your benefit, or will publish them here shortly. You will not want to miss this series of important presentations! Here is Howard Wolff's slide show on Demystifying LEED.

Continue reading "Hospitality Lawyer on Green Hotel Development - Demystifying LEED" »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
19 May 2008

Hospitality lawyer with ENERGY STAR and other green hotel resources from the EPA. At the recent Hotel Developers Conference presented by JMBM's hotel lawyers, there were many valuable presentations. (See the rich library of articles on green hotel development here at www.HotelLawBlog.com. (Just go to the blog, search down the right hand side for "Topics" and then click on "Green Hotels.").

The EPA wants to bring its ENERGY STAR resources to the hotel industry and offers a number of ways to partner for energy savings. Stuart Brodsky, gave all the delegates attending JMBM's recent annual Hotel Developers Conference a lot of great resource materials that demonstrate the environmental and financial value of energy efficiency in new construction and existing buildings. Here they are for your library.

Continue reading "Green hospitality attorneys present EPA's Energy Star and other great resources for greening your hotel operations or development" »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™

By Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer | Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
1 April 2008

Hotel Lawyer on The Hotel Developers Conference™ 2008. Here at www.HotelLawBlog.com and in our everyday practice, the hotel lawyers at JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® are always exploring the cutting edge. Annually, at The Hotel Developers Conference™, the Group's hotel attorneys bring together the leading experts to illuminate the hottest topics concerning hotel development.

In recent years, the hot subject was condo hotels, and then hotel mixed-use, but this year the entire conference was devoted to GREEN hotel development, construction, rehab and operation. (See www.JMBM.com/GHG/conferences). This was a "Gen 2" conference -- moving beyond the basics and into the practical guidance and war stories from the veterans in the trenches.

The Hotel Developers Conference™ even had a great panel on the unique aspects of financing and underwriting the green hotel premium, but of course hotel finance -- green or otherwise -- is the entire subject of JMBM's industrial strength event -- Meet the Money®, which will be held May 6-8, 2008 -- see www.MeetTheMoney.com )

In any event, here is the scoop on the great panels of the second day from The Hotel Developers Conference™ the 2008 annual edition -- Rule #1, "Living" buildings, financing the green premium, and more . . .

Continue reading "Hotel Lawyer: How to build, operate and finance GREEN hotels now." »

Posted In: Green Hotels, Hotel Developers Conference™, Hotel Finance − Hotel Debt & Hotel Equity