Clients cite our in-depth understanding of their businesses as a key strength that adds value to their transactions. Our clients often involve us early in the planning stage of a deal to help them formulate and execute their strategic and financial objectives. We synchronize those objectives with the current state of, and emerging trends in, the global financial and hospitality markets. While clients regularly call on us to represent them in complex local and cross-border transactions, they also turn to us for more routine matters, as those deals also benefit from our experience in, and relationships with, participants throughout the industry.
Our Global Reach
With more than 60 hospitality lawyers around the world, we are able to efficiently service our clients wherever they or their hospitality assets may be located. Our familiarity with local laws across jurisdictions and close relationships with local counsel allow us to provide real-time responses to legal issues virtually wherever they arise.
Recent Recognition
- Leading National Leisure & Hospitality Practice in Chambers & Partners USA (2010–2020) for the 10th consecutive year.
- Leading National Real Estate Practice in Chambers and Partners USA (2020).
- Tier 1 National Real Estate Practice in the 2021 U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey, published by U.S. News & World Report, and for the past 11 consecutive years (2011–2021).
- Tier 1 Los Angeles Real Estate Practice in the 2021 U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey, published by U.S. News & World Report, and for the past 11 consecutive years (2011–2021).
- Tier 1 Chicago Real Estate Practice in the 2021 U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey, published by U.S. News & World Report, and for the past 12 consecutive years (2010–2021).
- Tier 1 New York Real Estate Practice in the 2021 U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey, published by U.S. News & World Report, and for the past eight consecutive years (2014–2021).
A Full-Service Practice
Our work spans many legal disciplines, including:
|
|
|
|
|
- Litigation & Cross-Border Arbitration
|
|
|
|
- Private Equity & Hedge Funds
|
|
- Tax – Domestic and International
|
|
- Corporate & Project Level Financing
|
|
|
|
- Privacy and Data Security
|
Our Work; Representative Matters
Lawyers on our team have played pivotal roles in many of the most significant and high-profile hospitality transactions worldwide. Below are just a few examples:
- Accor Hotels: Management and operation of the hotel and residential components of the redevelopment of the Century Plaza Hotel and owner’s financing of $950 million.
- Trinity Investments: Acquisition of the 375-key Hilton Los Cabos Beach & Golf Resort in Los Cabos, Mexico.
- Magnetar Capital: Joint venture with Accelerated Assets, LLC for the acquisition and development of Marriott condominium units in Waikiki, HI.
- American Airlines: Hotel management agreement for a 600 room hotel to be used as crew accommodations.
- Dauntless Capital Partners: Formation of multiple real estate private equity funds focused on hospitality assets.
- First Republic Bank: Origination of financing secured by the Yellowstone Club, a private ski and golf resort in Montana.
- Dauntless Capital Partners: Formation and management of a REIT for investments in hospitality assets.
- Fundamental Advisors: Workout and restructuring of a mortgage loan made by Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. for The Blackstone hotel in Chicago.
- PIMCO: Origination of a mezzanine loan secured by a 21-property hotel portfolio.
- Fundamental Advisors: Joint venture agreement with Foxwoods for the El San Juan Casino in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
- Fundamental Advisors: Joint venture and bond financing relating to the 338-key Fairmont El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico asset management issues related to same.
- FelCor Lodging Trust: M&A transaction with FelCor merging with RLJ Lodging Trust, to create a pure-play lodging REIT with an enterprise value of $7 billion.
- Strategic Hotels & Resorts: $6 billion sale of Strategic Hotels to The Blackstone Group.
- HNA Aviation & Tourism Group: M&A transaction of Radisson Hospitality AB and Radisson Hospitality Inc. to Jinjiang International Holdings Co., Ltd.
- MGM Resorts International & Subsidiaries: Chapter 11 Bankruptcy of three entities in which MGM holds indirect interests. The three entities were each responsible for constructing and selling one of the three Signature Towers in Las Vegas, comprising a total of 1,727 condominium units.
- Accor Hotels: Management and operations in connection with the development of a 200-key Fairmont-branded hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- SBE Entertainment Holdings: $425 million mortgage and mezzanine loan facilities to refinance the Henry Hudson Hotel in New York, New York, and the Delano Hotel in Miami, Florida.
- Fortress Investment Group: $305 million sale of the Westin Cayman Islands Hotel and $212.5 million sale of the Westin Las Vegas Hotel.
- Accor Hotels: Management, operation, and branding related to the development of RimRock Resort - a full-service luxury hotel in Banff, Canada.
- Accor Hotels: Served as trial counsel in a bankruptcy dispute and hearings with the ownership group of the former Fairmont San Jose relating to the termination of the hotel management agreement.
- Accor Hotels: Management and operation related to the Raffles Boston Hotel.
- Plaza Hotel, New York: Acquisition, financing and restructuring of senior secured loan of The Plaza Hotel in New York City.
- Grand Wailea Waldorf Astoria Resort, the Arizona Biltmore, Waldorf Astoria Resort, the Doral Golf Resort and the Claremont Hotel & Spa: Restructuring of $1 billion credit facility and ultimate bankruptcy of the five luxury resorts.
- Alagem Capital: The acquisition, financing, refinancings, recapitalizations and negotiation of management agreements of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and the development, financing and recapitalization of the The Waldorf Beverly Hills Hotel.
- Four Seasons Punta Mita Resort: Acquisition of the luxury resort located in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
- Fundamental Advisors: Loan workout and restructuring of a mortgage loan made to a joint venture comprised of Sage Hospitality Group and Fundamental Advisors for the Minneapolis Marriott Southwest.
- Senior Secured Lender: Structured, negotiated and closed the $815 million construction, mortgage and mezzanine loans (comprising both mortgage and mezzanine loans) to a joint venture for the redevelopment of the site located at 701 Seventh Avenue, on the corner of West 47th Street in Times Square.
- Represented Provenance Hotel Partners in the closing of a strategic joint venture which recapitalized eight hotels across the United States, and in the concurrent sale of its hotel management operations of twelve hotels.
- Fundamental Advisors: Financing of a Marriott property in New York.
- Dauntless Partners: Acquisition of a portfolio of hotels in Hawaii and California.
