Hotel Lawyer: PACE Financing – Now an accepted tool for hotel lenders and borrowers
Hotel finance lawyer: PACE Financing is now mainstream
By David Sudeck and Jim Butler
Finance
Impact of Recent Federal Stimulus on the Travel Industry
The COVID-19 crisis consumed the United States for approximately three-quarters of the past year. In December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued emergency use authorization for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.[1] The development and distribution of an effective COVID-19 vaccine, alongside other public health measures, should allow us to combat the health effects of the global pandemic. With certainty coalescing around the health solutions to the pandemic, attention must turn to economic solutions.
By Thomas Hazinski and Joseph Hansel
Hotel Lawyer on PPP2 and the COVID Relief Bill’s changes to Paycheck Protection Program
We have a new PPP Loan authorization bill out of Washington, after months of political wrangling. Congress could have done more, but they did provide for up to $2,000,000 in additional forgivable loans per borrower, along with provisions which specifically cater to the hospitality industry.
By Jim Butler, Partner & Co-Chair Hospitality Practice, Blank Rome LLP, Blank Rome
2021 Hotel Financing Predictions
It is obvious that hotel operating performance will be much better in 2021 than 2020. It is, perhaps, less obvious that hotel lending has already begun staging a comeback that will accelerate throughout the year while continuing to stay ahead of actual hotel performance.
By Brian Holstein, Principal, US Hotel Advisors
CCG PACE Funding Closes $3.55 Million in Retroactive C-PACE Funding for Milwaukee’s Cambria Hotel
The Cambria Hotel Milwaukee Downtown located at 503 N. Plankinton Avenue utilized $3.55 Million of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) capital to retroactively finance the water and energy efficient improvements incorporated within its design. Completed in 2019, the four-story, 132-room hotel was designed with the modern traveler in mind, including design elements and artwork that celebrate the local area's wooded parks, regional flora and unique freshwater history as well as protect that natural environment by maximizing water and energy efficient technologies.
Some Denver Area Hotels Dim The Lights And Wait For The Creditors To Come Knocking
Months of empty rooms and discounted rates are catching up with hotel owners in Denver and across the country. Unless Congress steps in with more financial assistance or travel spending finds a way to surge, a big shakeout looms next year, industry insiders warn.
By Scott Dahl
Expert Views (18)
Max Starkov, Hospitality & travel technologist and digital strategist, Hospitality Net
Let's remind everyone what the primary goal of revenue management (RM) is: to ensure that the property sells the right product to the right customer at the right time for the right price on the right channel. Typically revenue management systems (RMS) and revenue managers use historical, comp set pricing and market data and combine this with forward-looking demand signals like pacing to recommend the optimum rates.
Raul Moronta, CRME, CHIA, Chief Commercial Officer, Remington
The current pandemic will certainly have a long term shift in how we satisfy future demand. While there has been a lot of discussion around how it will evolve, it is still too early to figure out how things will materially change, and as such, technology has not caught up to it.
Trevor Stuart-Hill, Founder and president, Revenue Matters
For individuals new to the concepts of revenue optimization, the first step would be to understand the breadth and depth of what is involved. Hint, it goes far beyond pricing. Work alongside an expert until you are ready to fly solo.
Latest Projection: Travel Spending in U.S. to Plunge by Nearly Half This Year
Travel spending in the U.S. is expected to finish the year 45% down from 2019 levels, and will still not have returned to its pre-pandemic strength by 2024, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Travel Association.
HFTP 2020–2021 Global Executive Committee and Board of Directors Begin Term
The 2020-2021 Global Executive Committee and Board of Directors for Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP®) have officially begun their term at the start of this month. The association leaders represent a wide variety of segments within the hospitality industry, including: clubs, academics, hotels, finance, technology and more. The HFTP Global Board volunteers its time and professional expertise to help guide and progress the association to the forefront of the industry as it carries out its strategic plan.
What Prop 15 means to California Hotel Owners
On election day this year, voters in California will be choosing between maintaining the existing Prop 13 which has been in place for 42 years (since 1978) and Prop 15, the first meaningful adjustment to tax laws with regard to assessing real estate in California for property tax purposes.
Industry Veteran, Bill Navas, Launches New Hotel CapEx Advisory Firm
Bill Navas, a 30-year hotel industry veteran has launched Rich-Port Hospitality Development, an innovative advisory firm primarily focused on executing capital projects for clients. Rich-Port also assists institutional investors with pre-acquisition due-diligence and provides hotel companies with outsourced brand representation and technical services.
2020 HVS Lodging Tax Report - USA
While prior HVS annual lodging tax studies have looked back on tax rates and revenues across the United States, this ninth annual Lodging Tax Study also looks forward and assesses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This analysis of 25 major US markets illustrates the depth of the impact on the hospitality industry and projects a pattern of recovery over the next few years. HVS also provides historical data on tax rates and the collection and distribution of revenue from lodging taxes levied in all 50 States and the 150 largest US cities.
By Thomas Hazinski and Joseph Hansel
U.S. Hotel Development Cost Survey 2020
In 2019, the national lodging market reached new heights, with hotels reporting the highest occupancy and ADR levels ever recorded. Similarly, hotel development continued at a steady pace, with new hotels opening to a burgeoning market and new and exciting projects continuously being moved through the development pipeline. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, government restrictions, travel and group cancellations, and an overall fear of traveling have caused an unprecedented drop in travel and tourism demand in the country and around the world, which has resulted in substantially lower occupancies and average rates.
By Luigi Major, Vice President, Houston, HVS
Benchmarking 101: The Bottom Line on Utility Costs
In the age of COVID, numerous operating costs have decreased, as hoteliers have done all they can to reduce expenses to help offset the extreme reduction in revenue.
By David Eisen, Content Director, Media, Questex
United States Looks Set To Lose $155 Billion From Missing International Tourists And Visitors, Says WTTC
A devastating $155 billion looks set to be lost from the U.S. economy due to the collapse of international travel during 2020, according to latest research conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC).
Expert Views (11)
Max Starkov, Hospitality & travel technologist and digital strategist, Hospitality Net
In the pre-COVID-19 era, some revenue managers were indeed stuck in the rut. Who were they? Revenue managers who acted as mere “OTA Relationship Managers.” Or as comp-set pricing strategy plagiarists. Who used an Excel spreadsheet as their only technology tool.
Diego Fernandez Perez De Ponga, Corporate Director Revenue Management Palladium Hotel Group, Palladium Hotel Group
The industry needs to face some important challenges, the first one incorporates more technology in our ecosystem, hotels and chains need to have more information on the daily basic decision, but they need to be more disrupted in this area, for example, smart destination software must come to our technology ecosystem.
Ira Vouk, Hospitality Tech and AI Consultant, Hospitality 2.0 Consulting
Thank you for the viewpoint, Scott. First of all, I'd like to express my opinion that the discipline of Revenue Management will never lose its relevance, no matter what happens in the industry and in the world. A business simply can't be successful without some type of RM tactics in place.
COVID-19’s Potential Lasting Impact on Fixed vs Variable Hotel Expense Ratios
As a result of COVID-19, hotel operators have been forced to make tough decisions, including the most basic one on whether to keep the lights on. Many were required to close their doors after municipal mandates were put in place and some decided to remain open, despite record-low occupancy levels, to house pandemic-related first responders and other essential personnel related to the fallout from the spread of coronavirus, largely in place of more traditional sources of demand during "normal times".
Hotel Industry Facing Massive Foreclosures of Thousands of Hotel Properties
AMERICAN HOTEL AND LODGING ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT AND CEO CHIP ROGERS: - "With a sharp decline in travel demand, nine times worse than September 11 and with lower room occupancy than during the Great Depression, our small business owners are struggling to survive. The human toll on our industry has been equally as devastating. Right now, many hotels are struggling to service their debt and keep their lights on, especially those with Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) loans as they have been unable to obtain urgently-needed debt relief. Without action to shore up commercial debt, especially CMBS loans, the hotel industry will experience mass foreclosures and permanent job losses which will snowball into a larger commercial real estate crisis impacting other segments of the economy."
Eldorado Resorts Announces FTC Clearance for Pending Merger With Caesars
Eldorado Resorts, Inc. (NASDAQ: ERI) ("Eldorado," "Eldorado Resorts" or the "Company") announced today that the Federal Trade Commission (the "FTC") has accepted a proposed consent order, which concludes the FTC's Hart-Scott-Rodino review of Eldorado's pending merger (the "Merger") with Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) ("Caesars"). The FTC's acceptance of the consent order satisfies all required antitrust clearances for the Merger.
The Case for Targeted Federal Aid to DMOs and Tourism Agencies
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed at risk the substantial investment of state and local governments in the tourism and hospitality industries. Publicly funded destination marketing organizations ("DMOs"), tourism agencies, and convention centers face budget shortfalls, staffing reductions, and growing financial uncertainty. Targeted federal aid is urgently needed to support DMOs, tourism agencies, and convention centers whose work is critical to the recovery of vital sectors of the US economy.
By Thomas Hazinski and Joseph Hansel