News for the Hospitality Executive |
Ask the Hotel Lawyer:
By Jim
Butler
and the Global Hospitality Group®,
Author of www.HotelLawBlog.com January 28, 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. Snippets
from the Lodging Industry Investment Council (LIIC). At the end of this article, are 3
links to prior musings
on the "Great Expectations" theme that may be interesting to review,
but here are some of the latest snippets taken from the ALIS
conference. Most
of these are from members of the Lodging Industry Investment Council or
LIIC, a
highly regarded industry think tank representing a cross-section of the
hotel
industry. I'm privileged to be one of the three co-chairman of this
prestigious
group along with Mike Cahill, CEO and Founder of Hospitality Real
Estate
Counselors, Inc., and Sean Hennessey, President of Lodging Investment
Advisors
LLC. The
LIIC meeting was hosted by Hotel Management (the new name for Hotel and
Motel
Management), and the Roundtable will be reported in that magazine in
the near
future.
Other
anticipations of Great Expectation! Many
of the currents above have been reflected in prior interviews and
articles on
the Hotel Law Blog, such as the following: Hotel
Lawyer:
So, You Think You Want to Buy a Hotel? BLOOMBERG
interview with Jim Butler, Hotel Lawyer New
York
Times: Hotel Sector May Lead Economic Recovery This
is Jim Butler, author of www.HotelLawBlog.com
and hotel lawyer, signing off. We've done more than $60 billion of
hotel
transactions and have developed innovative solutions to unlock value
from
troubled hotel transactions. Who's your hotel lawyer?
Our Perspective. We represent hotel lenders, owners and investors. We have helped our clients find business and legal solutions for more than $60 billion of hotel transactions, involving more than 1,000 properties all over the world. For more information, please contact Jim Butler at [email protected] or 310.201.3526. Jim Butler is a founding partner of JMBM and Chairman of its Global Hospitality Group®. Jim is one of the top hospitality attorneys in the world. GOOGLE "hotel lawyer" and you will see why. JMBM's troubled asset team has handled more than 1,000 receiverships and many complex insolvency issues. But Jim and his team are more than "just" great hotel lawyers. They are also hospitality consultants and business advisors. For example, they have developed some unique proprietary approaches to unlock value in underwater hotels that can benefit lenders, borrowers and investors. (GOOGLE "JMBM SAVE® program".) Whether it is a troubled investment or new transaction, JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® creates legal and business solutions for hotel owners and lenders. They are deal makers. They can help find the right operator or capital provider. They know who to call and how to reach them. |
Contact:
Jim Butler
|