EXAMPLES OF OUR WORK
Our work each year varies with market conditions. Acquisitions and development when capital is plentiful and optimism abounds. Workouts, Operations Consulting, and Dispute Resolution when the industry is in a slump. Few engagements are routine, many are very challenging. A handful are good examples of the value we add when owners, developers, brands and operators need our objectivity and experience.
Acquisitions
Over the years, David & Debbi Berins have helped underwrite scores of hotel and resort acquisitions as both consultants and senior officers of two ownership groups, Cypress Equities and Strategic Hotels & Resorts. Our clients and partners have included many institutional investors and advisors such as Apollo Capital Management, AIG Real Estate, Equitable Real Estate, Goldman Sachs, LaSalle Partners, Prudential Real Estate, TPG Real Estate and USAA Real Estate. Our focus has been on upscale-to-luxury class full-service hotels and resorts such as the W Hotel – Austin, Essex House – New York, Riverside Hotel – Ft. Lauderdale, Rock House Bahamas and Aloft –Atlanta.
Development
For The Biltmore Company in Asheville, we started with the fabulous canvas of the 8,000-acre Estate to assess multiple lodging opportunities. Our market research and programming led to the four-star Inn at Biltmore Estate that opened the destination to overnight visitors for the first time. Other examples of our development consulting include The Inn of the Anasazi in Santa Fe, the Dream Hotel Nashville, The Lanesborough on Hyde Park Corner in London, the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort, the Lancaster Houston and the Hotel Bel Air in Los Angeles.
Dispute Resolution
Examples of Dispute Resolution include a pioneering inverse condemnation case in which a state DOT built a high speed interstate ramp within 19’ of a hotel without taking any of the hotel’s property. Our help and testimony persuaded a jury that that hotel’s value had been severely impacted. Recently David served as one of three neutral arbitrators on a case alleging wrongful termination of a hotel management agreement. While two of the arbitrators were appointed by the parties, the AAA rules required all three to be neutral, and a unanimous award was issued.
Workouts & Restructurings
Over the past four decades, David & Debbi Berins have experienced multiple downturns in the economy that have materially impacted the hotel industry. Our workout & restructuring engagements have included hotel loan portfolios of failed banks, CMBS securities and individual properties. During one downturn, we were engaged on a recently-opened 300-room full service hotel and championship golf course operated by a branded international company. We negotiated termination of that contract and asset managed the hotel as an independent for two years until it could be sold for a substantial recovery. On this and others, we started with market studies and valuations based on our forecasts of future cash flows as well as detailed area-by-area reviews of deferred CapEx. This often results in requiring workout plan to restore the collateral to be competitive.