COLUMBUS, OH—With the economy in recovery mode, the hospitality industry is beginning to come alive again with more renovation, adaptive reuse, conversion and even new-construction projects. HOTEL BUSINESS® addressed the pros and cons of each of these development avenues at its most recent Executive Roundtable held at the Red Roof Inn Columbus Downtown-Convention Center here.
Hosted by Red Roof Inns, Inc. and sponsored by Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, Inc., participants in the roundtable included Andrew Alexander, president, Red Roof Inns, Inc.; Richard Conti, president, The Plasencia Group, Inc.; Keith Daub, president/COO, Winegardner & Hammons, Inc.; Christopher Diffley, managing director/investment management group, RockBridge Capital, LLC; J.P. Ford, senior vp/director of business development, Lodging Econometrics; Robert Habeeb, president/COO, First Hospitality Group, Inc.; Joseph Smith, executive vp, Chesapeake Hospitality; and Robert Wallace, executive vp, brand operations and franchising, Red Roof Inns, Inc. It was moderated by Stefani C. OConnor, executive news editor and managing editor of Roundtables for HOTEL BUSINESS®.
One popular topic discussed was assuming control of distressed assets. “One focus for us has been undercapitalized assets,” said Diffley, whose company is now in the process of raising its fifth fund. “We’re taking those properties and properly capitalizing them with renovations or rebranding projects.”
While there are still a limited number of new-build opportunities in the U.S., panelists stressed these particular projects need to be scrutinized more closely than ever before. “We’re still looking for full-service, new-build opportunities…but there’s got to be a very compelling reason to develop any new-build hotel these days,” said Daub. “We’re about to start construction on a new Courtyard.”
On the brand side, Alexander commented on the steps Red Roof is taking to foster continued growth. “We’re an owner, operator and a brand/franchisor. For the last two years we’ve focused on the operations side but now we’re focusing more on the ownership side of the business putting more capital into our properties. We want to take the lead reinventing our properties in major markets and we expect to be able to then capture more rate as a result of those renovations,” he said.
Full coverage of the Roundtable will be featured in the July 15 issue of HOTEL BUSINESS®.