Few industries are as intricately tied to fluctuating economic conditions as the multibillion-dollar hospitality industry. Those conditions are particularly important to hotel owners and lenders who face unique, location-driven real estate markets, and often unpredictable changes in consumer and corporate demand and hotel performance.

A hotel is a business and not simply rental real estate. We understand the business. Players in this multifaceted space need legal partners who understand the interwoven ownership, management and operational aspects of the industry, and can help them formulate and drive strategic business and legal decisions.

Through sophisticated, aggressive representation, we guide developers, owners, operators and investors of luxury class and upscale hotels, extended stay hotels, limited service hotels, and a range of high-end resorts and spas, in addition to other industry groups, major investment banks, and real estate investment trusts (REITs), as they approach transactions throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Europe and the Middle East.

Representative Service Areas

• Acquisitions and sales
• Bankruptcies and workouts
• Capital markets (including IPOs)
• Corporate finance
• Development and construction
• Environmental matters
• Franchises
• Joint ventures
• Land use and entitlements
• Leasing, lending and financing
• Licensing
• Litigation and dispute resolution
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Securitizations
• Trademarks
• Union and employment matters

Representative Services

• Real estate finance, including representing lenders, borrowers, underwriters and issuers of public and private debt, equity and mortgage-backed securities, secured and unsecured credit lines, including multiple tranche mezzanine and secured debt with complex intercreditor and pooling and servicing agreements.
• Hospitality economics, including complex management and cash management structures.
• Negotiating management, operating, franchise and vendor agreements, and timeshare and fractional-ownership agreements.
• Restructuring and workouts of troubled loans, properties and portfolios.
• REIT structures – Hunton Andrews Kurth has one of the leading real estate capital markets practices in the United States.
• Joint ventures with public companies, private equity firms, hedge funds and public/private ventures.
• Public and private offerings of securities for hospitality clients.

Representative Matters

• Represented HOF Village, LLC in connection with its $390 million merger with Gordon Pointe Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, to form the Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company.
• Represented Hersha Hospitality Trust on its sale of seven Manhattan limited-service hotels to a joint venture between Hersha and Cindat Capital Management Ltd., in a transaction valued at $571.4 million. The transaction included senior and mezzanine financing in an aggregate amount of $335 million from Natixis Real Estate Capital LLC and Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.
• Represented Chatham Lodging Trust in the acquisition of 51-hotel, 6,848-room portfolio from joint venture in two transactions for combined total purchase price of $1.3 billion.
• Represented leading private equity firm in the acquisition of 38 limited service and extended stay hotels, 4,950 rooms, for $590 million, and negotiation of mortgage and mezzanine financing from two major financial institutions and the securitization of the mortgage and a mezzanine tier.
• Represented national hospitality REIT in extending and adding collateral to $225 million corporate credit facility.
• Advised national bank in connection with $270 million mortgage and multilayered mezzanine financing of resort hotel.
• Represented Muss Development in the negotiation of cooperation agreement and ground lease agreement with Sullivan Resorts, LLC that gives Muss Development control of part of former Grossinger’s resort property in Catskills region of New York. Through joint venture with Foxwoods Resort Casino, agreements facilitate development of world-class destination resort casino and golf course by Muss Development.
• Represented investment bank in connection with $463 million mortgage financing of 78 franchised properties in 21 states.
• Advised Israel Discount Bank of New York in connection with $31.5 million mortgage loan secured by SIXTY hotel at 6 Columbus Circle in New York City.
• Represented institutional lender in connection with aggregate $220 million senior and mezzanine financing of San Francisco hotel.
• Represented foreign family office in investment of equity into two hotels in Brooklyn.
• Represented national hospitality REIT in $50 million financing for acquisition of hotel property in Seattle, Washington.
• Represented Aria Development Group in the acquisition of development site in downtown Miami. Assisted with hotel management agreement and operating agreement with foreign investor for development of hotel and residential complex.
• Represented hotel investment company as issuer’s counsel in issuance and sale of shares of common stock.
• Represented public REIT in joint venture for six hotels in New York City.
• Advised hotel lender in connection with $22 million financing of repositioned Washington, DC metro area hotel.
• Represented public real estate company in joint venture that acquired 60+ hotels in bankruptcy sale.
• Represented buyer of trophy hotel in Los Angeles that included operating companies that owned high-profile restaurants.
• Represented national lender in adopting uniform national hotel-secured loan documents.
• Represented REIT in acquiring ground-leased hotel in public/private redevelopment project in White Plains, New York.
• Represented private equity firm for over five years in sales of approximately 30 hotels of various brands in one-hotel and multiple-hotel sales transactions, some of which involved the sale of single asset REITs.