Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com 9 April 2007
Hotel lawyer reporting from the “Gateway to hotel finance.” I have received more telephone calls, e-mails and inquires through www.HotelLawBlog.com recently asking how we can help facilitate financing an unprecedented number of hotel deals. The inquiries concern every type of debt and equity financing imaginable for every kind of hotel or hospitality project — big hotel deals, little hotel deals; domestic and foreign hotel projects; urban high-rise hotels as well as urban and destination resorts; complex hotel mixed-use and more mundane, bread-and-butter select service hotels.
A lot of hotel developers and investors are telling us that they want to “Meet the Money®” and we can help them do just that! On May 3, 2007, we will have the largest gathering of hotel capital providers — hotel debt, hotel mezzanine and hotel equity investors — in the 17 years we have run our Meet the Money® conference. You can check out the program schedule, speakers, and register online at www.MeetTheMoney.com, but don’t miss this event! Here’s what its all about.
Huge pent up demand for hotel financing.
Why are so many hotel developers, owners and investors contacting me, and why now? I am not sure why I have received such a flood of inquiries lately — maybe it’s our Global Hospitality Group®’s dominating international profile or maybe more new construction hotel mixed-use projects are struggling to find financing. In fact, “obtaining the right financing” was one of the top two concerns of the hotel developers surveyed after The Hotel Developers Conference™ in March. But whatever the reason, the search for hotel financing is timely and we can help!
Gateway to hotel finance.
JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group likes to think of itself as the “Gateway to hotel finance.” We are not lenders or mortgage brokers, but we are more than “just” great hotel lawyers. We are also hospitality consultants and business advisors. We are deal makers. We can help find the right operator or capital provider. We know who to call and how to reach them. We are a major gateway of hotel finance, facilitating the flow of capital with our legal skill, hospitality industry knowledge and ability to find the right “fit” for all parts of the capital stack. Because we are part of the very fabric of the hotel industry, we are able to help clients identify key business goals, assemble the right team, strategize the approach to optimize value and then get the deal done.
How do you get the right financing for your hotel project? You can search the internet and find valuable resources like our Annual Outlook (“How will you finance your hotel project in 2007? Part I and Part II)
You can spend a lot of time setting up appointments to try to see who is doing what this week, or you can come to Meet the Money® and — as the name suggests — take advantage of this unique forum to meet the most active providers of debt and equity financing for hotels today. And it is in an ultra-efficient one-day format so you can “meet everybody who is anybody in hotel finance,” get done what needs to be done, and get back to your main business.
Time is short. The event takes place in 3 weeks and you don’t want to miss this. So check out the details at www.MeetTheMoney.com and plan to join us for a full day focused on hotel finance in Los Angeles on May 3, 2007 at the Sheraton LAX. You will be in good company — just look at organizations that are sending experts to share their industry know-how:
AEW Capital Management, AFC Hotel Finance Group, American Property Management, Aries Capital, Ashford Hospitality Trust, Atlas Hospitality Group, Baupost Group, Behringer Harvard Funds, Berkshire Capital Financial, Boutique Club, California Hotel & Lodging Association, Canyon Capital Realty Advisors, Capmark Finance, CapStar Hotel Company, Carlson Hotels Worldwide, CB Richard Ellis, Champ Hospitality, Chicago Title, Choice Hotels International, CIT Group, Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers, Countrywide Home Loans, CWCapital, Dolce International, Eagle Hospitality Properties, Forestpark Capital Advisors, Fortress Investment Group, Fremont Investment & Loan, Gatehouse Capital Corporation, GE Capital Solutions Franchise Finance, Hardage Suite Hotels, HEI Hotels & Resorts, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Hotel Business, Hospitality Real Estate Counselors, HREC Investment Advisors, HSH Nordbank, HVS International, Integrated Capital, Integrity Hospitality, InterContinental Hotels Group, Interstate Hotels & Resorts, iStar Financial, JER Partners, JLC Hospitality Consulting, Joie De Vivre Hospitality, Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, KeyBank Real Estate Capital, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Lambert Investments, Lehman, Lodging Unlimited, Lowe Enterprises Investors, Manhattan Hospitality Advisors, Marriott International, Marsh USA, Miraval, Morgans Hotel Group, Palladian Development, Perry Real Estate Partners, PKF Consulting, PNC Real Estate Finance, Principal Real Estate Investors, Prism Hotels, R & R Global Hospitality Group, Redwood Capital Advisors, Rockbridge Capital, S&P Destination Properties, San Diego National Bank, Scotia Capital (USA), Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts, Smith Travel Research, Sonnenblick-Eichner, Sonnenblick-Goldman, Stanford Hotels, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Stonebridge Companies, Sunstone Hotel Investors, T.R. ENGEL Group, Tarsadia Hotels, Textron Financial Corporation, Thayer Lodging Group, The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group, The Athens Group, The Bankers Bank, The Greenwich Group International, The Hotel Group, The Plasencia Group, The Royal Bank of Scotland, TIAA-CREF, Trinity Hotel Investors, Triyar Hospitality, Vacation Finance, Valencia Group, Warnick & Company, Wells Fargo Bank, Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, Windsor Capital Group, Winston Hotels, WTS International, Wyndham Hotel Group, and XE Capital Management.
So come Meet the Money®. See you on May 3rd!
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Our Perspective. We represent developers, owners and lenders. We have helped our clients as business and legal advisors on more than $125 billion of hotel transactions, involving more than 4,700 properties all over the world. For more information, please contact Jim Butler at jbutler@jmbm.com or 310.201.3526.
Jim Butler is one of the top hotel lawyers in the world. GOOGLE “hotel lawyer” or “hotel mixed-use” or “condo hotel lawyer” and you will see why.
Jim devotes 100% of his practice to hospitality, representing hotel owners, developers and lenders. Jim leads JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® — a team of 50 seasoned professionals with more than $87 billion of hotel transactional experience, involving more than 3,900 properties located around the globe. In the last 5 years alone, Jim and his team have assisted clients with more than 90 hotel mixed-use projects, all of which have involved at least some residential, and many have also involved significant spa, restaurant, retail, office, sports, and entertainment components — frequently integrated with energizing lifestyle elements.
Jim and his team are more than “just” great hotel lawyers. They are also hospitality consultants and business advisors. They are deal makers. They can help find the right operator or capital provider. They know who to call and how to reach them. They are a major gateway of hotel finance, facilitating the flow of capital with their legal skill, hospitality industry knowledge and ability to find the right “fit” for all parts of the capital stack. Because they are part of the very fabric of the hotel industry, they are able to help clients identify key business goals, assemble the right team, strategize the approach to optimize value and then get the deal done.
Jim is frequently quoted as an expert on hotel issues by national and industry publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek, and Hotel Business. A frequent author and speaker, Jim’s books, articles and many expert panel presentations cover topics reflecting his practice, including hotel and hotel-mixed use investment and development, negotiating, re-negotiating or terminating hotel management agreements, acquisition and sale of hospitality properties, hotel finance, complex joint venture and entity structure matters, workouts, as well as many operating and strategic issues.
Jim Butler is a Founding Partner of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP and he is Chairman of the firm’s Global Hospitality Group®. If you would like to discuss any hospitality or condo hotel matters, Jim would like to hear from you. Contact him at jbutler@jmbm.com or 310.201.3526. For his views on current industry issues, visit www.HotelLawBlog.com.