Investing in Hospitality with Highline Hospitality Partners

In this episode of Real Estate for Breakfast, host Phil Coover, joined by co-host Jay Augustyn, chats with Todd Roffman and Jordan Scheiman of Highline Hospitality Partners (HHP), a family office platform focusing on investments in hospitality assets throughout the United States.

On the podcast, Todd and Jordan discuss their backgrounds in hospitality investment and asset management and what excites them about the potential of the HHP platform. Todd and Jordan highlight the advantages of operating as part of a family office platform—greater flexibility in identification of investment opportunities throughout the capital stack, return thresholds and asset hold timeframes. They then share lessons learned in hospitality asset management throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and outline innovations that will endure beyond the end of the pandemic. Todd and Jordan provide their insights into the current state of the hospitality market and opportunities for debt and equity investment in hotel assets in the post-pandemic world.

Todd Roffman is a partner at HHP, responsible for identifying and evaluating new investments in the hospitality sector and asset management of HHP’s existing hospitality portfolio. Prior to joining Highline, Todd was a Director at Garrison Investment Group, a New York based private equity fund, where he was responsible for executing on new hotel acquisitions as well as all aspects of asset management of Garrison’s hospitality portfolio (peak exposure of 55 hotels and nearly 10,000 keys). In his time at Garrison from 2013 through 2019, Todd lead or assisted in the acquisition of 44 hotels totaling more than 7,000 keys with a combined value in excess of $830MM. Todd received a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University.

Jordan Scheiman is a managing director at HHP, responsible for sourcing, evaluating and capitalizing new debt investments in the hospitality sector. Prior to joining Highline, Jordan was a Vice President in the Investment Group of Rockbridge Capital, a private equity fund manager focused exclusively on investments in the hospitality space. Before Rockbridge, Jordan was a Director of Garrison Investment Group where he was responsible for managing all real estate financings across multiple active closed-end private equity funds and separately managed accounts for the firm’s approximately $2 billion in commercial real estate assets under management. Jordan holds a B.A. in Economics and Spanish (Phi Beta Kappa) from Vanderbilt University.

For more information, please visit https://highlinehp.com/

The Hospitality Industry and COVID-19 with Scarlett Hotel Group

In this episode, host Phil Coover and Jay Augustyn of Ice Miller LLP are joined by Zio Pekovic and Rob Sadoff of Scarlett Hotel Group, a hotel owner and operator based in Chicago, to discuss the hospitality industry and its challenges in the face of COVID-19. Despite these challenges, Scarlett Hotel Group maintains a growth mindset, exploring distressed investments and creditor advisory opportunities. Scarlett Hotel Group proactively and transparently implemented procedural and practical changes in hotel operations and infrastructure to safeguard guest and employee health and safety in response to COVID-19.

Mr. Zio Pekovic is a co-founder and principal of Scarlett Hotel Group. During his career, Mr. Pekovic has cultivated strong relationships with owners, brokers and financial institutions throughout the country and internationally, allowing him to identify both on- and off-market opportunities for investors. His focus includes identifying and analyzing potential hotel investments and structuring joint-venture partnerships with private equity funds, endowment funds, family offices and private investors. Mr. Pekovic is also involved in asset management and investor relations and is responsible for third-party management and receivership opportunities.

Mr. Rob Sadoff is a co-founder and principal of Scarlett Hotel Group where his focus is in the investment and development of hotel real estate assets. Since the formation of his new company in 2017, Mr. Sadoff has managed the execution of each transaction for the company’s portfolio of owned hotels. His expertise in deal structuring, franchising, financing and legal oversight provides the team with the confidence to execute and close on each transaction. Additionally, Rob’s strong business reputation of high ethics has been the catalyst for the addition of new capital and joint venture partners.

Jay Augustyn is a Partner in Ice Miller’s Real Estate Practice. He represents clients in all manners of real estate transactions, including acquisitions and dispositions, financing, leasing and joint ventures. Jay also advises investors, developers and entrepreneurs in fund formation and investment matters with respect to the federal Opportunity Zone program and other federal, state and local programs to improve efficiency of project financing.

For more information, visit https://scarletthotelgroup.com/.

Willy Walker, CEO of Walker & Dunlop, on Capital Markets During COVID-19

In this episode of Real Estate for Breakfast, Willy Walker, chairman and chief executive officer of publicly traded Walker & Dunlop, joins host Phil Coover to discuss the capital markets and the impact of the Great Recession and COVID-19 on that industry, as well as Walker and Dunlop’s explosive growth over the past 12 years. While discussing the evolution and growth of Walker & Dunlop, Mr. Walker and Phil discuss specific industry sectors such as hospitality and retail from both the landlord and tenant perspective. In addition, they dive into office space and how the need for and use of space may change moving forward. This includes a discussion of working from home and the development of corporate culture. Phil also gets the chance to ask Mr. Walker about the decision to take the company public and the ramifications of that decision.

Willy Walker is chairman and chief executive officer of Walker & Dunlop. Under Mr. Walker’s leadership, Walker & Dunlop has grown from a small, family-owned business to become one of the largest commercial real estate finance companies in the United States. Walker & Dunlop is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and was #17 on Fortune’s 2017 list of “Fastest Growing Public Companies.” The company has also been named a Best Workplace for five of the past six years by the Great Place to Work® Institute. Mr. Walker received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2011 and was named “Financier of the Year” in 2017 by Commercial Mortgage Observer.

Mr. Walker received his master’s degree in business administration from Harvard University and a bachelor’s degree from St. Lawrence University. He currently serves on the boards of Children's National Medical Center and the Mortgage Bankers Association, and he is a member of the Real Estate Roundtable. Mr. Walker is an avid runner, skier and cyclist, and has run the Boston Marathon in 2:36.

For more information, visit https://www.walkerdunlop.com/.