JMJ Holdings Launches Hospitality Division; Knable To Head Up New Entity

DALLAS— Real estate developer JMJ Holdings has launched a hotel acquisition and development division— JMJ Hospitality— that plans to acquire and develop luxury hotels, resorts and branded residences on a global basis. As part of the launch, JMJ Holdings, headed by President/CEO Timothy Barton, acquired The Knable Group, a hospitality consultancy headed by Principal/ Managing Director Christopher Knable. Knable will now lead JMJ Hospitality as president/managing director and is based in New York. Barton, who was unavailable for comment at press time, said in a statement he was looking forward to extending the company’s “laser-like focus on maximizing potential to the hospitality arenas.” Knable, a veteran hotelier, has served with Peninsula, Four Seasons and Regent hotels, among others. He also launched several start-ups for such varied entities as the Cipriani family of Venice and a royal family in the Middle East. Prior to the acquisition, The Knable Group consultancy assisted high net-worth individuals worldwide with the development, operation and marketing of boutique and luxury assets. “We were a boutique consulting shop that was concentrated almost entirely on development consulting. Our niche was working with high-net-worth individuals who either wanted to build a hotel or flesh out an idea, or had perhaps built something that went off the tracks and they wanted to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it,” said Knable. The projects ranged from the new Trump condo-hotel under way in New York City’s SoHo district to working with a royal family in Saudi Arabia on a five million-square-foot residential resort. Both Knable and Barton traveled in similar circles during their careers and have known each other for several years. “It was one of those things where we discovered over the past few months that we had sort of aligned interests and felt like by working together, we’d make a formidable team, ” said Knable, while noting he and Barton had worked on several hospitality projects together in South America. “The chemistry was good and we sort of went from there.” Recently, JMJ Holdings finalized an agreement between Ivana Trump and Dubai-based DAMAC Properties to launch a branded lifestyle line of luxury condominium residences, and JMJ Hospitality is serving as global brand manager on behalf of Trump. The division will oversee this $150 million project in Beirut, Lebanon, as well as future developments of the “La Residence by Ivana Trump” brand. JMJ Hospitality also will seek global opportunities for Trump to partner with luxury lifestyle developers in order to grow the brand. Knable said that he was pleased to be working with Trump again, “having benefited from her entrepreneurial savvy” when she was president and CEO of the Plaza in New York. JMJ Holdings has been involved in development for more than 20 years, with a focus on “big land plays” and putting together mixed-use and high-end residential developments, shopping centers and similar projects, said Knable. Knable felt the industry’s continuing robust environment is well suited to support the launch of JMJ Hospitality. “It’s as good as it’s ever been. There are a lot of deals out there and there’s a lot of capital out there. You get a lot of deals and a lot of capital, good things can happen when you’ve got the right minds behind it,” he said, noting he and Barton bring complementary skills to the table. For example, in a deal brought in by Barton, Knable and JMJ Hospitality will focus immediately on the ongoing development of Laguna Kai, a Rosewood resort in the Rivera Maya of Mexico that is set to open in late spring 2007. JMJ is developing the property in a partnership with the Spanish construction firm, OHL. The resort will offer 120 suites— 60 of which are condo-hotel units that already have been sold— and 38 villas retailing at approximately $4 million each, a spa, a golf course, restaurants and meeting facilities at completion. Knable also has been looking at deals in the U.S., notably Chicago, as well as in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. “The sky’s the limit…I can’t say we’re focused on a particular region,” he said. “It’s more along the lines of being focused on the opportunity.” In terms of acquisitions, Knable expects upcoming transactions to be one-offs, especially at the ultra-luxury level. “I haven’t seen a lot on the portfolio side that’s really sort of sparked an interest. I think there are a lot of one-off assets out there that could fare very, very well from a redevelopment approach,” said Knable. He added that the JMJ approach is to do ground-up development in either city center, major urban locations or in a major beach resort destination, or to take on an existing building and redevelop it by adding more rooms or adding a residential component. He said that the company “really finds value” with the latter, particularly when it adds a five-star flag, “which brings velocity and a premium on the residential side in terms of sales.” Knable noted that JMJ Holdings has three large developments underway, including the 2,000-acre Nashville Biltmore project, that could possibly add one or more lodging components. “For the time being we’re looking to make a name as developers first,” said Knable, adding, “Through [Barton’s] contact network and my contact network, we think that we can have a pretty busy deal pipeline almost immediately.”