KANSAS CITY, MO—The members of Hotel Brokers International have elected their 2015-16 board of directors. The HBI board is comprised of 11 officers/directors elected from the general membership during the organization’s 56th annual meeting held recently in Las Vegas. The board members, who begin their terms in March, are:
• President H. Brandt Niehaus: Niehaus is president and principal broker of Huff, Niehaus & Associates, Inc., a full-service hotel real estate brokerage located in Louisville, KY. Brandt began his career in commercial real estate in 1983 and has focused exclusively on hotel real estate investment since 1988. He has successfully transacted the sales of hundreds of hotel properties from limited-service independents through full-service luxury hotels representing sellers in conventional sales as well as lender-owned transactions for banks and institutions.
• Vice President Diana Alt: Diana Alt is an associate broker with Las Cruces, NM-based Scoggin Blue LLC, and has managed the brokerage firm’s Dallas office since 2002. She has been involved in the hospitality industry since 1989. Prior to Scoggin Blue, Diana was with Hotel Management magazine.
• Treasurer Jeffrey W. Westgor: Westgor is president and broker of Minneapolis-based Westgor & Associates, Inc. Westgor & Associates and Westgor’s late father Wayne were charter members of Hotel Brokers International. Jeff joined his father in the family brokerage business in 1994 and holds his real estate license in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota.
• Secretary Steven B. Blue: Blue is the sole owner of Scoggin Blue LLC—a real estate brokerage company specializing exclusively in selling hospitality real estate since 1959. He has been in hotel/motel asset value assessments and direct marketing of hotel/motel properties since 1979.
• Past President: Tony DeGeorge: President, founding partner and principal broker of Greene, Canfield, DeGeorge, Ltd. in Clearwater, FL, DeGeorge has been actively involved in hotel brokerage since 1981 and has been directly involved in the listing, marketing and sale of hundreds of hotels including dispositions for corporations and REITs as well as individuals. He is a three-time past president of Hotel Brokers International and has served on the organization’s board for nearly 20 years.
New directors include: Bill Nugent, president of Nugent Hotel Brokers of Leawood, KS; Richard Ehmer, president and principal broker of San Francisco-based The Ehmer Group; Steve Quintana, is president of HawksView Hospitality of Denver; Ken Olipra, VP of Clearwater, FL-based Greene, Canfield, DeGeorge, Ltd.; Michelle L. Kennedy, partner and principal/designated broker of Crystal Investment Property; and Dick Lopez, president of Lodging Brokers Network, Inc. of Napa, CA.