Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA, Full service hotel brokerage and advisory firm Paramount Lodging Advisors has merged with hospitality real estate services firm Hardisty Baxter to open PARAMOUNT™'s new Southern California office.

Phil Miller, a Cornell classmate of Phil Baxter and Senior Managing Director with PARAMOUNT™, made the introductions and brought the two groups together. The marriage will prove to be of tremendous benefit in an industry so mired in complexity that finding the right expertise is a necessity rather than an option. Baxter points out that "these are Darwinian times, and the weak are not going to survive. Owners must be prepared to feed, improve and reposition their assets in order to reap rewards when the market comes back".

There is turmoil as a result of the turbulence, and out of the turmoil there are bright spots for investors who are keeping their powder dry. "As dark as things are, there are tremendous opportunities to buy hospitality assets and reposition them for the recovery", says Hardisty, formerly Executive Vice President of Lowe Enterprises responsible for Lowe Destination Development's resort and condominium hotel development program. Hardisty and Baxter have developed a comprehensive real estate platform specializing in distressed hospitality assets. Their services are designed to provide owners, lenders, and special servicers with strategic alternatives and the execution of a strategic plan from beginning to end, up to and including asset disposition. PARAMOUNT™'s platform as a whole is now uniquely suited to helping buyers find the right opportunity, whether a straight forward asset purchase or a more complex "loan to own" acquisition. Again, expert help is needed to find the right opportunity, create a strategic plan, acquire the asset and position it for the eventual recovery.

"It is tremendously exciting for us to add Hardisty Baxter to the team. They have a track record of success in assisting holders of hospitality real estate optimize the recapture of the value of their hotel and resort assets. PARAMOUNT™ now offers beginning to end services necessary to execute and/or facilitate the execution of every step of the strategic plan," says Steve Mills, Senior Managing Director of Paramount Lodging Advisors based in San Francisco. Steve adds, "these guys are tough minded veterans who match up peer to peer with any operator's corporate marketing, finance and operations executives. They get their hands dirty and they get results fast."

Though there are a number of hospitality-centric management and real estate firms with various capabilities lined up to work on distressed assets, few if any offer the depth and breadth of expertise that PARAMOUNT™ now offers. "We are ecstatic to have on board a group that because of their successful track record, reputation, knowledge and experience with such iconic properties as the Hotel Del Coronado, they are in high demand by owners, lenders, servicers, receivers and investors," says Sanjeev Misra, Senior Managing Director of PARAMOUNT™ based in Chicago.

About PARAMOUNT LODGING ADVISORS: PARAMOUNT™ specializes in full service hotel brokerage and advisory, asset management, debt and equity sourcing and executive search. PARAMOUNT™ is headquartered in Chicago, IL and has global offices in Phoenix, AZ, Los Angeles, CA, San Francisco, CA, Ithaca, NY, Charleston, SC, Richmond, VA,Vancouver, B.C. and London, U.K.

Philip Baxter
424.785.0363

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