C&W Exec Sees ‘Better Days Ahead’ For Industry

NEW YORK CITY— In terms of hotel performance and ultimately, transactional activity, Cushman & Wakefield’s Dan Lesser is optimistic that the worst is just about over for the industry. Addressing colleagues at the Lodging Industry Investment Council meeting here June 2, Lesser maintained: “There’s not a lot of downside left in the market.” According to Lesser, helping to reinforce the “upside” foreseen making its long-awaited reappearance is a definitive influx of overseas capital veritably eager to find an investment home in the U.S. marketplace. Moreover, the national brokerage veteran similarly contended he expects something of a ramp-up in the pace at which hotels change hands as the bid/ask spread continues to narrow in the coming months.—Michael Billig