Articles Posted in Meet the Money®

Published on:

By

6 June 2014

As the significance of Chinese investment in the US continues its rapid growth, news articles regularly document new details of this major trend. And in today’s Los Angeles Times, Tiffany Hsu provided some interesting facts in an article entitled “Chinese tourism and investment in Southern California surges.” Her article led off with the example of a 15% increase in Chinese travelers at the Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel. We served as lawyers and business advisors to Shenzen Hazens Real Estate Group (a large Chinese construction company) with its $96 million purchase of the hotel. The article explains that the new owner has put up billboards in China promoting the 802-room hotel near the main entrance of the Los Angeles International Airport. As an example of how important such Chinese investors have become in the United States, Tiffany Hsu also noted that JMBM launched its Chinese Investment Group® in 2011 to orchestrate deals for Chinese investors in the United States, like the purchase of the Sheraton Gateway, the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor, the Regent hotel brand and other real estate, solar and business investments. Here are a few highlights on the big surge in Chinese tourism and investment in Southern California reported by the Los Angeles Times:

  • Tourism from China into Los Angeles roughly quadrupled over the last five years, growing from 158,000 in 2009 to 570,000 visitors last year, and is expected to almost quadruple again to 2,000,000 by 2020 according to a new report from the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. (LACEDC).
  • The LACEDC reports that Chinese investment interest in Southern California is also very strong. The travel is not just for tourism, but for Chinese people buying homes, businesses and other investments.
  • More Chinese students attend universities in Southern California than any other group of American universities — 10,000 pupils last year, up from 3,000 in 2009.
  • The number of Chinese-owned businesses in Los Angeles county doubled in the last six years.
  • And Southland trade with China is booming. The Los Angeles Customs District saw record trade volume last year valued at $414.5 billion. Of that, imports and exports from China made up more than half — $221.4 billion, up 4.5% from 2012.
  • The Los Angeles-Long Beach ports, which make up part of the district and constitute the ninth busiest port system worldwide, now attribute 60% of their activity to China.
  • Exports to China through Los Angeles grew by 52% in four years to $25.3 billion last year. Instead of the waste and scrap common in the past, those shipments are increasingly made up of electronics, machinery and other valuable goods destined for a fast-growing Chinese middle class.
  • The LACEDC report aptly summarizes the situation as follows: “The futures of Los Angeles and China are inextricably tied together.”

CONTINUE READING →

Published on:

By

6 March 2014

Meet the Money® National Hotel Finance and Investment Conference will focus on hotel development and deals

LOS ANGELES–Meet the Money® 2014 will bring owners, operators, developers, consultants, investors, brands, lenders and other capital providers together in Los Angeles to explore the opportunities of what is predicted to be a breakout year for hotel development and deals. Held May 5-7, the annual national hotel finance and investment conference will focus on ground up development, expansion, repositioning and rebranding as well as the big increase in hotel acquisitions and financings, refinancings and recapitalizations.

“Now is a great time to be in the hospitality industry,” said Jim Butler, founder of the conference and Chairman of the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®, which hosts the two day event. “Improving economics for the last 4 years has laid the groundwork for an even bigger 2014, with a big increase in new development and transactional activity.”

Experts also expect to see a continuing increase in value appreciation in all hotel markets for at least the next three to five years, creating a wave of new development as it becomes cheaper to build new rooms than buy them.

Over 100 hospitality industry insiders are confirmed as speakers in Meet the Money® 2014 panel discussions on this year’s most urgent topics, new development, successful strategies for buying or selling hotels, Chinese investment, hotel-residential and other mixed-use projects, the ADA, labor and employment issues, and public-private partnerships. Separate panels will explore luxury, select service and full service hotels, as well as the ins and outs of financing large and small deals.

“Meet the Money® provides essential information for getting the most out of the upcoming year, and our attendees are able to network with some of the most successful leaders and creative minds in the industry,” said Butler. “The conference is a valuable resource for anyone looking to make smart deals or plan new development.”

Meet the Money® is held at the Sheraton LAX. Registration fees are $950. For more information about the conference and to register, please visit MeetTheMoney.com or contact Carol James at (415) 984-9654 or CJames@jmbm.com.

CONTINUE READING →

Published on:

By

13 May 2013

Meet the Money® made the news again this year, with an article on the Wall Street Journal “Developments” blog. Written by Kris Hudson, the article discusses the return of hotel construction, what types of financing are available, and which markets will be able to support new hotels.

Meet the Money® speakers Marty Collins of Gatehouse Capital, Anne Hampton of Wells Fargo Bank Hospitality Finance, Alison Cumberland and Abid Gilani of Marriott International, Kevin Mahoney of Stonebridge Companies and Paul Novak at Whitman Peterson Capital Partners were quoted in the story.

Conference speakers highlighted the CMBS market, gateway city locations, and upper-midscale hotels developments as factors that might help push construction financing in 2013, although some noted that lending standards are still strict and that many markets may not have a demand for more rooms.

If you haven’t read the article yet, you can find it here: Lenders Checking In? Hoteliers Say Construction Lending Is Reviving.

You can more great information from Meet the Money® 2013 at www.HotelLawyer.com on our RESOURCE CENTER, under “Hotel Industry Presentations.”

Published on:

By

www.MeetTheMoney.com
11 May 2013

Meet the Money® is one of the best places in the country for meeting the Who’s Who of the hotel world, getting financing and transactions done and catching up on the latest strategies and approaches. This year’s conference was held at the Sheraton LAX, May 6-8, 2013 and was attended by approximately 350 hotel industry leaders. Here’s a quick take on the mood of the conference and some information about
Mood of the hotel industry: optimism and sustainability of recovery

JMBM wrapped up its 23rd annual hotel conference this week amidst the strongest optimism for the hotel industry that hotel experts have seen for six years. The consensus was there is a lot of blue sky ahead. Some think the good times will only last for a couple of years, but many see a good run for at least 5 years!

Everyone at Meet the Money® seemed to be fairly comfortable that the recovery has significant sustainability, because the debt and equity markets have not gotten too frothy, and new supply has been very restrained.

Mark Woodworth of PKF summarized it well after presenting industry fundamentals by saying: “It is a great time to be in the hotel business!”
And Vail Brown gave the STR forecast that the outlook of continuing improvements is “Steady as she goes.”

Greg Hartmann of JLL sounded a slightly more cautious note. He agrees that everything looks pretty good for the next couple of years, but questions how long it can last, and suggests that investors might consider selling in the next year and a half to two years.

What inning are we in? Almost every panel gave its views, with the biggest consensus being that we are in the 4th or 5th inning — still early in the ballgame. John Alderson of Westfield thinks that the shopping center owners now getting active in adding hotels to their malls are way behind the rest of the industry (2nd inning?) and are likely to have their games continue as they implement strategic plans.

Hotel Industry Presentations from Meet the Money® 2013

Meet the Money® 2013 was buzzing with action and great information. We have decided to release some of the presentations for free download. Select presentations from Meet the Money® 2013 (described below) and are now available at www.HotelLawyer.com. Click on “RESOURCE CENTER” and then “Hotel Industry Presentations.”

CONTINUE READING →

Published on:

By

Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

08 May 2013

Lodging Industry Investment Council
Annual Top Ten Survey
Trends And Challenges

Strong hotel property value growth predicted, fueled by increasingly favorable hotel debt — despite overall sluggish economic growth, sequestration, unionization and Obamacare. According to the LIIC 2013 Survey, this is what the hotel industry has in store in 2013.

The Lodging Industry Investment Council (LIIC) is the hotel industry “think tank” whose membership includes the hospitality industry’s most influential investors, lenders, corporate real estate executives, REITs, public hotel companies, brokers and significant lodging equity sources. More than 80% of surveyed LIIC members have purchased a hotel in the last 12 months. Together, the members of LIIC represent ownership, control or disposition of well over $20 billion of lodging real estate.

CONTINUE READING →

Published on:

By

01 May 2013

Meet the Money® 2013 is next week! Online registration ends this Friday, May 3, 2013 at 5 pm.

It is hard to believe but our 23rd annual Meet the Money® conference is less than a week away — May 6 to 8, 2013 at the Sheraton LAX.

We have an exciting program with the top providers and consumers of debt, equity and other pieces of the capital stack. We also have top industry leaders speaking and attending, plenty of opportunities for networking and deal making, and the best conference food and snacks in the industry.

Hot topics include all the latest on WHO is providing hotel financing and HOW the deals are being done — from small deals to big deals. Presenters are all active in providing capital or finding the best sources of it.

In addition to all the latest on hotel debt and equity, there will be some great panels on:

  • State of the Hotel Industry — industry fundamentals, capital markets,
    financing and market values, cap rates, transaction data and trends,
    state of the economy

    STR
    PKF Consulting
    HVS
    Jones Lang LaSalle
    Atlas Hospitality
    Richard Green, USC Lusk Center

  • Development: What’s Hot — What’s Not
    Where’s the money going for development?
  • EB-5 Update: Financing for New Construction
    Why do the EB-5 apps double each year?
  • Why the ADA matters to you.
    Comply now or pay later
  • CEO Panel: New Strategies for a New Economy
    Are you at the table or on it?
  • Hotel Retail-Mixed-use
    Why are people adding hotels to shopping centers?
  • State of the CMBS Markets
  • Workouts/Receiverships/Takeovers
    Strategies for distressed hotels
  • Maximizing Return & Value
    Branded vs. Independent Operators

And much more!

CONTINUE READING →

Published on:

By

22 May 2012

At JMBM’s recent hotel finance conference in Los Angeles, a panel of experts talked about how well joint ventures are working to provide financing for hotel development and acquisitions.

The hotel joint venture experts

The Joint Venture Panel from Meet the Money® 2012 featured 5 veteran hotel investors and operating partners, and was moderated by Guy Maisnik, hotel lawyer and Vice Chair of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group®. The panelists were:

Picture of Guy Maisnik Guy Maisnik, Vice Chair, JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® works extensively on hotel joint ventures and financings, as well as acquisitions.

  • Mark Burden, CEO, Rim Hospitality
  • Lamont Meek, SVP and COO, Circa Capital
  • Rick Frank, SVP Hospitality, Behringer Harvard
  • Jonathan Martin, VP, AEW Capital Management
  • Kam Babaoff, Managing Director, Ensemble Hotel Partners

Each of these participants has a long history of investing in and operating hotels, and they represent the spectrum of views currently prevailing in the industry. While each has been successful, each has taken a different road to achieve success. The individual strategies and approaches of each stands out, as does the talent and vision necessary to navigate some of the toughest years in the hotel industry.

CONTINUE READING →

Published on:

By

9 May 2012

Along with Mike Cahill of Hospitality Real Estate Counselors (HREC) and Sean Hennessey of the Lodging Investment Advisors, I am privileged to be one of the co-chairs of the Lodging Industry Investment Council (LIIC). LIIC is the hotel industry “think tank” whose membership owns or operates many billions of hotel investments, and involves all aspects of the industry.

LIIC Annual Survey

I am grateful that Mike Cahill takes responsibility for analyzing LIIC’s annual survey of lodging investment trends and challenges, a highly regarded profile of investment sentiment and attitudes for the lodging industry for the next 12 months.

This survey results in the annual “LIIC Top Ten”, which Mike delivered to more than 350 participants at the 22nd annual conference of Meet the Money® today.

Economy is top concern

You won’t be surprised that the economy remains the biggest concern among LIIC’s members. But some of their beliefs about where things are headed are less obvious and very interesting.

If you were not in attendance, you missed Mike’s personal insight. But the presentation is available on HotelLawyer.com. It is brief and straightforward, as was his delivery today. For a snapshot of what industry leaders are thinking about right now, click here.

CONTINUE READING →

Published on:

By

9 May 2012

Hotel Lawyers in Los Angeles at JMBM’s Meet the Money® 2012

The hotel lawyers at JMBM’S Global Hospitality Group® were out in force and mingling with about 350 hotel industry leaders that joined us in Los Angeles this week for the 22nd annual Meet the Money® 2012 conference.

What is different about Meet the Money®?

There is a lot to like about this conference. We are not in the conference business, and we don’t make a profit on this event, so we run the conference at the highest level of excellence and the way we think best suits business-oriented deal makers. For instance:

  • Substantively, everything has a strong focus on financing, value, and liquidity.
  • It is an efficient (one level) venue where you can see everybody and is not too crowded.
  • You see deal makers, not product electronic key or astro turf vendors.
  • It is a comfortable venue with great food (breakfast, lunch and receptions) and constant snacks (fruit, yogurt, juice, soft drinks, energy bars, and the like).
  • The program starts and ends on time.

What’s different this year from last year?

Well, last year, hotel transactions were coming back online and there was plenty of excitement.

This year, although it seems like just about everyone has a recent deal to discuss and more in the pipeline, things are more sluggish. The experts look for the second half of the year to be much stronger, making a mirror image of 2011.

As usual, there was lots of conversation and plenty of business cards being exchanged in the hallways, and there was a large crowd at the Grand Welcome Reception that talked for hours into the evening (the great food and the poolside venue may have been a factor!).

Quick take aways

If our participants are any indicator of what’s going on in the hotel marketplace, there is a reason for optimism. Here are some of the common conversational and conference themes:

CONTINUE READING →

Contact Information
Jim Butler, Chairman
Global Hospitality Group®
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP
(310) 201-3526 • jbutler@jmbm.com
www.HotelLawyer.com

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2014 – 2024, Global Hospitality Group®
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design