The NHIF Spring 2024 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 SPRING 2024 MEETING
Thursday, April 18, 2024, 4:00-7:30 pm
The W Bellevue
10455 NE 5th Place, Bellevue, WA 98004
AGENDA:
3:45-4:00 pm – Registration and Check-in
4:00-4:55 pm – Opening Networking Reception
Refreshments and light appetizers
Reconnect with regional and national industry colleagues. Learn from each other about deal opportunities and projects in the pipeline. Whether you’re equity, debt, brand, management, development, or ownership, build the relationships that will help you achieve your objectives.
5:00-6:45 pm – Presentation and Panel Discussion
Short Program—Hotel Performance. This presentation will provide current information and data on hotel performance and transactions.
Presenter:
Emmy Hise, Director of Hospitality Analytics, Western US, CoStar (Denver, CO). Emmy analyzes and presents economic trends and themes within the Hospitality sector for the western United States to clients using STR and CoStar’s extensive databases. STR was acquired in October 2019 by CoStar Group, Inc., the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces. STR is the industry’s unparalleled information gatherer and supplier, providing global data benchmarking, analytics, and marketplace insights. www.costar.com; www.strglobal.com
Mark Lukens, Managing Director, LWHA (Seattle, Washington). Mark has over 25 years of experience in hospitality real estate and holds the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute. LWHA provides advisory, valuation, feasibility, investment counseling, asset management, and transactional services focused exclusively on hotels, resorts, gaming properties, and conference center assets worldwide. www.lwhospitalityadvisors.com
Centerpiece Program: “Lenders and Hotel Development.” In the current environment, debt financing is possibly the most challenging aspect of the capital stack and the most significant hurdle for hotel development, acquisitions, and portfolio growth. This national-level panel will discuss lenders’ current underwriting needs, where they will be going in 2024 and 2025, how to position your hotel development or acquisition to best address lender needs, and strategies for establishing and leveraging lender relationships for successful growth.
Moderator:
Irvin Sandman, Principal – Attorney, Sandman Savrann PLLC (Seattle, WA). With over 30 years of experience in the hospitality industry, Irvin has served as lead counsel for hotel clients in thousands of hotel matters and transactions regionally, nationally and internationally, including hotel developments, acquisitions and dispositions, financial and entity structuring, management and franchise agreements, operational matters, and dispute resolution. He is the 2008 recipient of the Anthony Marshall Award for lasting contributions to hospitality law, is the editor-in-chief of the Washington State Hospitality Law Manual, Third Edition, and is recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in the category of Leisure and Hospitality Law. Sandman Savrann is a national law firm devoted to the hospitality industry. The Firm is recognized a Tier 1 law firm by Best Law Firms® in the category of Leisure and Hospitality. Through its Associated Firms, which serve as Sandman Savrann’s departments, the Sandman Savrann team includes over 1,400 attorneys nationwide, delivering comprehensive, cost-effective counsel for regional, national, and international hotel companies and owners. www.sandmansavrann.com
Panelists:
Adrienne (Kautzman) Andrews, Managing Director, JLL Hotels & Hospitality and Capital Markets (Phoenix, AZ). Adrienne is responsible for growing JLL Hotels & Hospitality western US hotel activity with a focus on financing acquisitions, refinances, and ground up hospitality. She and her team bring to bear deep relationships with a full range of capital participants, including banks, life companies, CMBS, debt fund, mezz, and preferred equity lenders. Adrienne has spent thirteen years in hospitality finance as both a balance sheet lender and hotel finance intermediary. Before JLL, she held leadership positions at CBRE Hotels (Senior Vice President), Berkadia (Managing Director) and GE Capital (Managing Director). JLL is a leading global commercial real estate services company. It is ranked #190 of the Fortune 500, with over 103,000 employees, and completes $1.1 billion dollars in capital markets transactions globally every working day. www.jll.com.
Liz Dahlager, Chief Operating Officer, Mereté Hotel Management (Springfield, Oregon). Liz is responsible for the overall performance of Mereté’s hotels and for directing Mereté’s strategic growth plans to expand their portfolio in the Western US. Liz has worked in hospitality for more than 25 years with leadership experience across multiple brands, hotel departments and chain scales. She has been recognized for her exceptional leadership and industry work by AHLA, Hotel Management Magazine, and Marriott International. Liz was appointed COO in December of 2023 after holding the Executive Vice President and Vice President of Market Intelligence positions. Prior to joining Mereté in a regional sales role, Liz served as an Area Director of Sales & Marketing for independent boutique hotels and for Kimpton Hotels. Earlier this year she was confirmed to the Marriott Franchise Advisory Board for the Element Brand and currently serves on the board of directors for Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association. Mereté is an award-winning 3rd party hotel operator with a portfolio of 20 select service branded hotels in the Pacific NW, including Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Choice and Wyndham and employing 700 associates. www.meretehotels.com
Douglas Dreher, CEO, The Hotel Group (THG) (Edmonds, WA). As CEO of THG, Doug oversees all facets of the company, including the company-wide portfolio, real estate acquisitions and dispositions, investor relations, and capital and strategic planning. Before joining THG in 1989, Doug worked for Westin Hotels & Resorts in various management positions. He has supervised over 125 hotels in 25 states and Canada, overseen 50 new developments, and gained extensive experience with brands such as Marriott International, Hilton Worldwide, Hyatt Corporation, and InterContinental Hotels Group, among others. Doug serves on Hilton’s Distribution Owners Advisory Council, and he is a current member of the Lodging Industry Investment Council and Past Chair of the Washington Hospitality Association. He was honored with the 2021 WSU Bellhop Hall of Fame Award. THG, a 40-year hotel company, specializes in hotel management, development, renovation oversight, turnarounds, asset management, and ownership. Its current portfolio includes 18 hotels in five states. THG is a strategic partner of Hotel Equities, whose collective ownership and management portfolios include over 300 hotels in the U.S. and Canada. www.thehotelgroup.com.
Jonathan Falik, CEO, JF Capital Advisors (New York, NY and Boynton Beach, FL). As the Founder and CEO of JF Capital Advisors, Jonathan leads the firm’s hospitality business, which includes equity and debt placement, restructuring and repositioning, asset acquisitions and dispositions, portfolio transactions, JV structuring, asset management, management company and brand evaluation, and strategic and capital markets advisory services. Previously, he was Senior Managing Director at BGC Real Estate, Head of Hotel Investment Sales at Newmark and Head of Lodging Investment Banking at Cantor Fitzgerald, and an executive at Bear Stearns. In the past 30 years, Jonathan has completed over $35 billion of transactions including over $1 billion as a principal. Jonathan has previously been an adjunct professor at NYU and presents regularly at industry events. He spent 5 years on the board of the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association and is on the Advisory Board of the International Luxury Hotel Association. www.jfcap.com.
6:45-7:30 pm – Post-Presentation Networking and Cocktail Reception
Cocktails and appetizers
Pick up your discussions and connections from earlier in the evening. Meet those still on your list. Make plans for follow-up meetings or visits to northwest sites, hotels, or markets.
7:30 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, March 22, 2024) is $195; later registration is $225. Early registration is recommended. To register, please go to the link shown in the email notifications you’ve received about the meeting.
RESERVATIONS AT THE HOST HOTEL:
The W Bellevue is graciously providing a limited block at a favorable rate for NHIF attendees. The room block will end on Thursday, March 21, 2024, 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 or will be receiving about the meeting.
NHIF STEERING MEMBERS:
Irvin W. Sandman, Sandman Savrann PLLC ~ Mark Lukens, LWHA
NHIF PATRON SPONSORS:
NHIF BRAND SPONSORS:
NHIF PORTFOLIO SPONSORS:
NHIF SILVER SPONSORS:
