Waramaug Hospitality, a privately held investment firm focused on premium-branded select-service and full-service hotels, has revealed an agreement for an investment in the company’s asset management platform, Waramaug Ventures, by an affiliate of HazelStream Capital, a private equity group focused on investments in the hospitality real estate and management services sectors. Paul Nussbaum and Leslie Ng, Waramaug’s managing partners, will continue to oversee the day-to-day operations and remain majority holders in the business. As part of the transaction, Evren Unver and Ferit Ferhangil, chairman and partner, HazelStream, respectively, will join the board of Waramaug Ventures.
This is the first investment in a U.S. hotel asset management platform for HazelStream, which was formed in 2020. Bringing these two teams together will accelerate Waramaug’s growth strategy to acquire select- and full-service hotel properties across the U.S. and HazelStream’s further growth in the hospitality sector in the country.
“In Waramaug, we have found a seasoned partner that shares our optimistic view of the hospitality real estate and services sectors in the United States,” said Unver. “The investment in Waramaug forms a strong foundation for us to expand our footprint in the U.S. through further investments and acquisitions while being aligned with a company that shares similar investment objectives and outlook in the hospitality market.”
“We are pleased HazelStream sees Waramaug Hospitality as a vehicle to initiate their investment activities in our sector,” said Ng. “At Waramaug, we will continue to do what we have always done, which is acquire hotel real estate at attractive prices and increase performance with a rigorous capital improvement and asset management focus.”
Since its formation, Waramaug has completed more than 60 hotel investments with a total acquisition cost in excess of $1 billion.