13 March 2012
Hotel investment through buying hotel notes As the economy and hotel fundamentals continue to improve, hotel note purchase opportunities will be one of the most attractive hotel investments for savvy investors.
My partner and Vice Chair of our Global Hospitality Group®, Guy Maisnik, has been working a lot on note purchases lately, and I asked him to share some insights with us, which he graciously consented to do with his article today.
3 February 2012
While no one has a crystal ball to accurately predict the future of the hospitality industry, Eric Stossel, Managing Editor of Lodging Hospitality has the next best thing: access to experts and insiders who have their fingers on the pulse of the industry. I was recently interviewed by Eric, along with other hospitality practitioners, for one of his articles that forecast the year ahead (see Capital Markets Key to Hotel Real Estate Rebound).
There was plenty of prognosticating going on by pundits at the ALIS conference in Los Angeles this week, as well, and I took a lot of notes. Here’s what the experts think the hospitality world will look like in 2012.
19 January 2012
Hotel lawyer in Los Angeles, looking at a new first in the hotel conference industry. The Americas Lodging Investment Summit or ALIS runs next week from Monday through Wednesday, January 23-25, 2012, at the JW Marriott in downtown Los Angeles. ALIS is one of the major annual hotel investment conferences and gets some of the best attendance in the industry. In 2012, it returns to Los Angeles after several years of being held in San Diego. It is always a great way to get a handle on what’s happening in the hotel industry at the beginning of the year, and many of us look forward to it as a regular annual event.
However, this year, the conference is creating something of a stir with what seems to be an industry first. For several weeks, rumors have abounded that the conference promoter, BHN, has “bought out” all of the public space at the JW Marriott. The practical impact of this is that only people with ALIS Conference badges will be permitted in any of the public spaces at the conference hotel.
Today, I received an e-mail sent to all registered ALIS delegates. It confirmed the rumors. Among other things, this e-mail from the “Alice Registration Team” said the following:
Security will be tight at both the JW Marriott Hotel and Nokia Theatre. ALIS has secured all public areas at the JW Marriott Hotel beginning Monday, January 23. In order to access both venues, only registered ALIS delegates with ALIS name badge and picture ID will be granted admittance.
1 November 2011
Congratulations to Hotel Management on a great annual hotel conference in Washington DC.
Our heartiest congratulations to Stacy Silver and Stephanie Ricca of Hotel Management and their team for a great first day (just ended) on their 3rd annual hotel conference, now called NATHIC (North America Hotel and Tourism Investment Conference). This was my first time attending this conference, but it certainly won’t be my last.
Washington DC makes an excellent venue for a conference, because it is efficient to combine the conference with business meetings with so many hotel companies based in the greater metropolitan area. Washington DC is a capital of the hotel industry.
So here is my take on the trip to Washington, DC and the NATHIC conference so far.
15 October 2011
Optimistic keynote at the Dallas Lenders Conference from FelCor Chairman Tom Corcoran
One of the bright spots at Steve Van’s Fishing for Solutions lender conference was the keynote address given by FelCor Lodging Trust Chairman, Thomas J. Corcoran. Known for his blunt and sometimes salty candor, Tom sounded a call for a reality check for doomsayers, likes where we are now in the hotel industry and expects things to get better.
Yes, he reads the newspapers, knows all about the “market volatility” and pokes fun at how the world cringes on reports that Slovakia may not approve the European bailout of Greece. Everyone is over-reacting to news he says.
Here are the details . . .
15 October 2011
Hotel Lawyer from CMBS Special Servicer heaven with the latest insights from the Dallas Lenders Conference
For 11 years now, Steve Van and his team at Prism Hotels have held what is probably the best lender conference in the country. Attendance is by invitation only. The one-day program is attended by industry leaders and about 100 of the Who’s Who of the hotel lending world. If you are a special servicer, you want to be at this meeting. The convocation has swelled in size from about 35 at the first meeting, but Steve resists all the temptations to grow too large so that this remains an informal meeting place for serious dialog and candid discussion.
Generally, the conference delegates include the top people from the major special servicers, such as Midland Loan Services, C-III Asset Management, CW Capital, Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, ORIX Capital Markets, KeyBank Real Estate Capital, Bank of America and the like – all the people you would like to see but never find at the major investment conferences. The sessions are highly interactive, more akin to think tank sessions and sharing of experiences and concerns than the typical conference lecture format.
I was privileged to lead a panel of thought leaders on “Trends in Hotel Loan Sales,” and Guy Maisnik (my partner and vice chair of our Global Hospitality Group®) spoke on the panel “Special Servicers Survival Guide for Loan Defaults – CMBS 201: What has changed?”
Here are some highlights of the meeting that I thought were noteworthy . . .
27 September 2011
Hotel Lawyers with some (very) good news.
Of course there are plenty of macro economic issues and industry challenges to worry about. (See It’s not just me. The market has changed.)
But there are also some things to feel good about. If you want to be gloomy, go read your newspaper. If you want to cheer up, keep reading.
Here are a few nuggets of information to brighten your day.
[The slides in this article are taken from presentations at The Lodging Conference in Phoenix by Mark Woodworth of PKF, and Vail Brown of Smith Travel research. We appreciate their permission to use their slides.]
25 September 2011
Hotel lawyers: Are we at a turning point in the industry?
Our hotel lawyers were at The Lodging Conference in Phoenix last week, taking the measure of the hotel industry. It was pretty interesting. Some said August was a “turning point” and they were not referring to a good thing.
At the Hotel Law Blog, what happens in Phoenix does not stay in Phoenix. Here’s what we heard.
“It’s not just me. The market has changed in just the last 60 days!”
While many people at the Lodging Conference said recent market volatility had no impact on them, their transactions or their deals, this was clearly not the case for all.
A widely-held view was that it seems like someone hit the “PAUSE” button on hotel finance and purchase-sale transactions. Some fear a “reset” button may also have been tripped. The global market turmoil of the past 30-60 days triggered by the inability of our politicians to resolve deep U.S. budget issues, along with questions about political resolve by European governments to deal with their own problems continue to raise major issues.
And there are all the usual specters of big increases in taxes, continued high unemployment, sagging consumer confidence, rising labor costs, rampant inflation to deal with $14 trillion of debt, operating costs rising faster than RevPAR as well as war, plague and pestilence.
So here are some insights from industry leaders and vignettes JMBM’s hotel lawyers gathered at the Phoenix Lodging Conference. In many cases we have omitted the speaker’s names because I was not certain that the comments were intended for attribution.
15 August 2011
Hotel Lawyer on brokers, agents fiduciary duty and charges of trust betrayed as laid out in the high-profile lawsuit of Host Hotels & Resorts against Robert T. Koger (personally) and his brokerage firm Molinaro Koger, Inc.
I was recently interviewed by Jason Freed of HotelNewsNow (a division of Smith Travel Research) about three high profile lawsuits in the hospitality industry. One of these cases was Host Hotels & Resorts v. Robert T. Koger. In this litigation, Host Hotels & Resorts sued a number of defendants, including Rob Koger and his firm, Molinaro Koger, for breach of fiduciary duties, breach of contract, fraud and other serious claims.
Lawsuits between sellers and brokers are not particularly common in the hospitality industry. And lawsuits alleging fraud are even less common.
One of the reasons I enjoy working in the hospitality industry is the optimism, openness and collegiality that exists throughout the hospitality community. Developers, owners, operators, lenders, brokers, lawyers, consultants, advisors, trade media — we all depend upon each other. Although I am a rigorous advocate for my client’s position in negotiations, there is an understanding, including with those on the “other side”, that we are working together for the success of making the deal or completing the project.
05 June 2011
Flying en route from LA to New York for the NYU Hospitality Industry Investment Conference yesterday, I exchanged some emails with Michael Murray of the Mortgage Bankers Association. (I am a big fan of wi-fi on aircraft — no more downtime on those long flights!) He wanted my take on what’s ahead for the hotel industry and asked me the kind of questions that bankers ask — the ones that help you gauge risk and reward.
I told Mike that my view, whether cruising at 35,000 feet or with feet planted firmly on the ground, is clear: sunny skies ahead, with occasional clouds (and light showers), but no storms on the horizon as far as we can see.
Hotel industry fundamentals are improving, there is little new supply and there is virtually unlimited equity on the sidelines. Hotel values increased 10% to 15% in 2010 and prices are trending upward.
Here is how I see it now. I will let you know if anything I hear at NYU in the next couple days changes my view …