Articles Posted in Outlook and Trends

Published on:

27 January 2011

Hotel Lawyer with the pulse of the hotel industry from the ALIS conference in San Diego

After spending the past few days in San Diego at the Americas Lodging Industry Summit or ALIS conference, the hotel lawyers from JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® have a pretty good sense of the “pulse” of the industry. Although attendance at the conference was down significantly from last year, as cost-cutting continues, the mood was decidedly more optimistic, and lots of people were actively working on deals or projects.

We thought the mood reflected a sense of “Great Expectations” – a relatively optimistic sense that the worst is clearly behind us, and that things will only get better from here, however slowly. Debt capital has reemerged for existing projects with established cash flows, and a decent project may get quite a few competitive bids. Property transactions are also happening across the spectrum. Foreign investment, particularly from China is fueling some of the acquisition activity. The REITs and equity buyers are also very active.

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Published on:

8 January 2011

Hotel Lawyer with advice for 2011: Hotel Investors, take note!

Like it or not, the stage is now set. This is the time. The year 2011 will present one of the greatest hotel buying opportunities for many years to come. And if you are not buying hotels this year, you will miss the window created by one of the biggest economic downturns in American history. What are the key indicators as to why this is a great time to by a hotel? And is price alone enough to justify the purchase, or are there other factors you need to think about? If the market is heading north, can you still make a bad purchase?

Hotel Lawyer Guy Maisnik, Vice Chairman of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group®, who was the lead attorney for the Receiver in the recent sale of the Sheraton Universal Hotel, answers these questions and more.

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Published on:

5 January 2011

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM), one of California’s foremost full-service law firms, today announced that its Global Hospitality Group® facilitated the sale of the Sheraton Universal Hotel to Shenzhen New World Group Co. JMBM represented the receiver and structured the sale so that the 20-story, 451 room hotel could be conveyed while the hotel was in receivership.

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Published on:

Bloomberg news interview on investment outlook for 2011.

Is 2011 the “last window” for hotel investment in this cycle? Where are the biggest investment opportunities? What do you need to know about hotel investment now?

I thought you might like to hear my interview today on Bloomberg Law on Demand, hosted by Lee Pacchia. Click here to listen to the 10-minute podcast.

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Published on:

7 December 2010

It is always nice to be quoted in the New York Times, especially in a story that includes so many industry heavy hitters, as was the case in the article, After a Rough Night, Hotel Investors Are Waking Up. Reporter Janet Morrissey’s article provides a thought-provoking picture of the current unprecedented hotel investment landscape.

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Published on:

12 October 2010

Hotel Lawyer with a cold splash of realism from new economic data! If you are not ready for the “long haul,” it is time to reassess your strategies . . .

The hotel lawyers of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® believe investors, borrowers and lenders should assess their options and develop their strategies based on realistic assumptions and the latest hard data. If you haven’t seen the latest, this is worth looking at.

On October 6, 2010, the International Monetary Fund or IMF released its latest appraisal of the situation for real estate on a global basis (in a report entitled World Economic Outlook October 2010 Recovery, Risk, and Rebalancing). The conclusion was that the prospects in the global real estate sector are “dismal,” with a downturn that could last eight years.

“Especially in the United States, given the limited success of mortgage modification programs and the shadow inventory from foreclosures and delinquencies, this has renewed fears of a double dip in real estate markets. A lot will depend on the path of economic recovery: if employment creation remains low, risks of a double dip in housing naturally increase,” the IMF said.

But the IMF data is not all that is new. Let’s take a look at some other significant data points, including those from Fitch, Deutsche Bank and Atlas Hospitality.

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Published on:

22 September 2010

Hotel Lawyer with the latest pulse of the hotel industry from The Lodging Conference at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix Arizona.

The title of this blog says it all. This is the time and place to be – The Lodging Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. We called it at Meet the Money® in May, 2010, but the tide that started turning at the end of the first quarter 2010 has continued its flow and it seems to be unmistakable now. I expect to hear some very exciting things at the Conference here in the next few days.

I would describe the mood of the pre-conference gathering that started this evening as very “EXPECTANT.” Expecting more and better in both transactions . . . and eventually . . . perhaps more slowly . . . better in the fundamentals of the hotel industry.

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Published on:

30 July 2010

Hotel Lawyer with a name change. JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® is part of a vibrant law firm. Today, that firm announced that it is changing the firm name, but we will still be known as “JMBM.” Here’s the story.

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Published on:

15 July 2010

Hotel Lawyer with the latest information on hotel loan defaults, foreclosures, forebearances and distressed sales in California from the Atlas Hospitality Group.

Less than two weeks after the quarter’s end, Atlas Hospitality has released its California Distressed Hotels Survey (2nd Quarter 2010).

Here is our executive summary of that report, our view of its national implications and what we think it means for owners, lenders and investors.

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Published on:

13 July 2010

Hotel Lawyer with a critical update on the state of the industry

Today, the JW Marriott Los Angeles, we got an update on the state of the lodging industry from two of my favorite industry leaders: Mark Woodworth, President of Hospitality Research, and Mark Lomanno, President of Smith Travel Research.

There is some good news, and some bad news, although both reports were optimistic on the direction we are heading. Here is my take on some highlights with some pertinent slides.

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