The NHIF Fall 2026 Meeting
The Northwest Hotel Investment Forum is a place where:
- Stakeholders learn about trends affecting hotel investment, ownership and development.
- Equity, debt, management, brands, and developers find each other.
- Stakeholders learn about opportunities in the region and elsewhere.
- Investors, owners and developers who are new to hotels make industry connections.
THE NHIF FALL 2026 MEETING
Thursday, October 29, 2026, 4:00–7:30 pm
The Somm Hotel & Spa, Autograph Collection
14485 Woodinville Rd, Woodinville, WA 98072
AGENDA:
3:45-4:00 pm – Registration and Check-in
4:00-4:30 pm – Welcoming Reception – Light Refreshments and Tastes
Reconnect with your regional and national industry colleagues and enjoy selections from The SOMM.
4:30-4:45 pm – Introductions and NHIF Business
Irvin Sandman
Principal – Attorney | Sandman Savrann PLLC (Seattle, WA)
Irvin co-founded NHIF in 2011 to help clients and contacts spur hotel acquisitions, equity partnerships, and portfolio growth. With over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Irvin has served as lead counsel in thousands of regional and national hotel matters, from negotiation and documentation of hotel developments, acquisitions, entity structures, HMAs, and franchise agreements, to operations matters, dispute resolution, and workouts. He is the 2008 recipient of the Anthony Marshall Award for lasting contributions to hospitality law and is recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in the category of Leisure and Hospitality Law. Sandman Savrann is recognized as a Tier 1 law firm by Best Law Firms® in the category of Leisure and Hospitality Law. Through its principal offices in the northeast, southeast, and northwest, and its 23 Associated Firms who serve nationwide as Sandman Savrann’s departments, the Sandman Savrann team includes over 1,400 attorneys. www.sandmansavrann.com
4:45-5:15 pm –The Pacific Rim Economy.
This presentation will take a deep dive into the macroeconomic factors influencing hospitality investment.
Moderator
Matthew Behrens
First Vice President | CBRE Hotels (Seattle, WA)
Matthew’s primary role is to provide clients with hotel disposition services in the hospitality arena in the Northwest region of the U.S. He has over 17 years of varied experience in the hospitality industry, and for more than 11 years has participated in over $1 billion worth of hospitality-related dispositions and related activities. He joined CBRE in 2010 with the purchase of the Colliers Hotel division on the West Coast and Canada, and before that worked for Colliers International, PKF Consulting, Four Seasons, and Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. CBRE Hotels is part of CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, with more than 155,000 professionals across over 100 countries; its hospitality practice operates a full-service global platform spanning investment sales, debt and structured finance, valuation, and asset management, backed by industry-leading market data covering 65 hotel markets and 435+ submarkets. www.cbre.com/services/property-types/hotels.
Panelists
Michael H. Brown
Managing Director | Wells Fargo & Company (San Francisco, CA)
Mike is a Managing Director within the Real Estate Syndication Finance (RESF) group at Wells Fargo Securities, where he manages secured loan syndications for Wells Fargo’s Commercial Real Estate (CRE) group across the western US, and covers CRE’s Specialty Finance Group’s national platform, including hospitality. Over the course of his 25-year career, Mike has advised on, structured, sold, financed, and syndicated more than $100 billion of real estate transactions across the U.S. and Canada. Wells Fargo’s Commercial Real Estate platform is one of the top-ranked in the industry, holding the #1 U.S. CMBS bookrunner, #1 CRE CLO bookrunner, and #1 global real estate bonds bookrunner rankings, and has been named CMBS Bank of the Year for three consecutive years by GlobalCapital. www.wellsfargo.com/cib/commercial-real-estate.
Matthew Gardner
Chief Economist | Gardner Economics (Seattle, WA)
Matthew is widely recognized as one of the foremost real estate economists in the country, translating economic and market data into actionable information for real estate professionals and the public. He has spent more than two decades synthesizing national and local economic and real estate trends, and currently serves on both the Washington State Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors and the Association of Washington Businesses’ Council of Economic Advisors. Oxford-educated, he was most recently named the 2025 winner of the Pulsenomics/Fannie Mae Home Price Expectations Survey. Gardner Economics is a real estate economics and public speaking practice specializing in residential and commercial market analysis, real estate forecasting, and economic trend consulting for real estate professionals and organizations nationwide. www.gardnereconomics.com.
Michael Stathokostopoulos
Senior Director of Hospitality Analytics | CoStar Group (Los Angeles, CA)
Michael identifies industry trends and develops market insights for several of the top 25 hotel markets on performance, pipeline, and transaction activity. He has over fifteen years of experience in real estate transaction advisory, valuation for financial reporting, and market analytics across all major asset types, with a particular focus on hotels, advising clients throughout the lifecycle of their real estate investments. CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) is the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics, and online marketplaces. STR (acquired by CoStar in October 2019) is the hospitality industry’s unparalleled information gatherer and supplier, providing global data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights. www.costar.com
5:15–6:00 pm –The Wave Rising in the Pacific Northwest
Fresh off the heels of hosting six World Cup matches, coupled with a record $9.6 billion acquisition of The Seattle Seahawks by tech investor Vinod Khosla, Seattle is in the spotlight. The market dynamics, diversified demand generators, and business-focused political environment have collectively intrigued investors.
Moderator
Jena Thornton
CEO | Magnetic (Seattle, WA)
Jena has been an entrepreneur for the past 13 years, creating and managing unique lodging and dining properties. Following a 20-year career in hotel investment, she most recently served as Senior Vice President of Bentall Kennedy, where she oversaw the acquisition, development, financing, asset management, and disposition of over two billion dollars of hotels. Before that, she was with Noble House Hotels & Resorts, PKF Consulting, IHA, and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. Magnetic’s portfolio includes the Crocodile, one of Seattle’s most storied live music venues, which today comprises two live performance stages, a comedy club, and a 17-room boutique hotel. www.magnetic.now.
Panelists
Beth Knox
President & CEO | Seattle Sports Commission (Seattle, WA)
Beth is President and CEO of the Seattle Sports Commission (SSC) and the SSC Foundation. She leads SSC’s efforts to attract and host premier sporting events in the Greater Seattle Region, including the MLB All-Star Game, the Clipper International Sailing Race, the NHL Winter Classic, NCAA Women’s and Men’s Basketball, and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup. The SSC Foundation is a charitable nonprofit supporting equitable access to youth and women’s sports. Beth has produced large-scale special events for more than 35 years in the events, sports, and entertainment industry. Her past roles include CEO of the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games, CEO of Seattle’s annual Seafair festival, and Board Chair of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Local Organizing Committee Seattle, as well as leadership roles with the Bumbershoot Arts & Music Festival, Seattle’s 4th of July fireworks show, both Seahawks Super Bowl Victory Parades, and both Sounders FC MLS Cup Championship Parades. Most recently, Seattle hosted a successful 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. The Seattle Sports Commission works to position Greater Seattle as a world-class sports market, bringing premier sporting events to the region that build community, enhance civic pride, and create lasting social and economic impact. www.seattlesports.org
Joe Nguyễn
President & CEO | Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce (Seattle, WA)
Joe leads the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s advocacy, business growth, and member connection efforts across the greater Seattle region. He joined the Chamber after serving as Director of the Washington State Department of Commerce, where he oversaw statewide efforts to support employers, strengthen key industries, expand workforce capacity, and improve Washington’s competitiveness. He previously served in the Washington State Senate representing Seattle’s 34th Legislative District and has held private-sector leadership roles at Microsoft and Expedia. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce is the largest and most diverse business association in the region, representing more than 2,500 local companies and organizations with a combined workforce of about 750,000 people, and advances business growth, member connection, and advocacy at the city, county, state, and federal levels. www.seattlechamber.com.
6:00-6:45 pm – The Contrarian Investment Thesis
A candid dialogue from investors who have doubled down on the Pacific Northwest and its future potential.
Moderator
Raj Chandnani
Managing Partner | Cortner Group (Los Angeles, CA)
Raj focuses on sourcing investments, portfolio asset management, joint venture structuring, conceptualization, competitive positioning, branding strategies, and development. He has cultivated an exceptional network of owners, investors, and developers, stays abreast of consumer trends, and is passionate about innovations in the industry. He is also a founder of The American Hotel & Lodging Association’s Hospitality Investment Roundtable, a member of the Dean’s Advisory Board at Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration, and a member of the Collins College of Hospitality Management Board of Advisors at California Polytechnic University, Pomona.
Panelists
Stephany Chen
Senior Vice President of Investor Relations | Trinity Investments (Los Angeles, CA)
Stephany develops, manages, and oversees Trinity’s capital strategy efforts, serving as the primary contact between Trinity and its investment community. With over 15 years in the hospitality real estate industry, Stephany has been involved in nearly $5.0 billion of transactions globally. Prior to joining Trinity, she worked with JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group and Burba Hotel Network (BHN). Stephany was recently selected as a 2024 CRE Women of Influence by GlobeSt. Trinity Investments is a private real estate investment firm specializing in hotels and resorts, with more than $8.2 billion in assets under management and more than $10 billion invested since inception across over 16,500 hotel and resort keys. www.trinityinvestments.com.
Akshay Goyal
President | Riller Capital (Los Angeles, CA)
Akshay leads the sourcing and execution of the firm’s investments. He brings more than 13 years of experience in hospitality investment and finance. Before joining Riller, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of US Hotel Acquisitions at Starwood Capital Group, where he was involved in more than $16 billion of transactions over a nine-year period. Before Starwood, he worked on the real estate, gaming, and lodging investment banking team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York City. Riller Capital is a real estate private equity firm focused on hotel investments across the United States, with more than $1.5 billion in assets under management across more than 70 hotels. www.rillercapital.com.
6:45-7:45 pm – Networking Reception with Cocktails and Selections from the Chef
Share views on the presentation topics. Refresh and make valuable connections. Plan for follow-up meetings or visits to northwest sites, hotels, or markets.
7:45 pm – Adjournment
REGISTRATION AND NHIF MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION:
Registration is open only to Members of NHIF and to NHIF’s invited guests. Early registration (through Friday, October 3, 2025) is $250; later registration is $275. Early registration is recommended. To register, please go to the link shown in the email notifications you have received about the meeting.
RESERVATIONS AT THE HOST HOTEL:
The SOMM Hotel & Spa is providing a limited block at the favorable rate of $349 for NHIF attendees. The room block will end on end on Thursday, October 10, 2025, or when the group block is sold out, whichever comes first. To make a reservation under the room block, please follow the instructions in the email notifications you have received about the meeting.
NHIF STEERING MEMBERS:
Irvin W. Sandman, Sandman Savrann PLLC ~ Mark Lukens, LWHA