Northern California Chapter panel discussion
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Left to Right: Phil Brezinski, ’74, Jon Kimball, ’84, Jon Handlery, ’78, and Jennifer Tom, ’00 discuss the panel’s observations. |
On April 30, 2009, the Northern California Chapter presented a panel discussion at the Handlery Hotel located on Union Square in downtown San Francisco. The host was Jon Handlery, ’78, President of Handlery Hotels.
The panel discussion was moderated by Suzanne Mellen, ’76, Managing Director HVS. The all-Hotelie panelists included: Jon Kimball, ‘84 General Manager and Area Managing Director, Westin St. Francis Hotel; Rich Musgrove, ’84 Executive Vice President, The Chartres Lodging Group, LLC; Rob Stiles, ‘83 Managing Director, Sonnenblick-Goldman Company; and, Tom Werner, ’78 Senior Vice President, SCS Advisors, Inc.
The panel discussed a number of topics, including the current performance and near term outlook for hotel assets in the San Francisco Bay Area and other markets throughout the U.S. where the panelists own or asset manage properties. The panel also reviewed the budgeting process and cost containment during a period of declining revenues. Panelists discussed how the dramatic changes in the capital markets are impacting the hotel investment environment, including how capital sources currently view the lodging sector. The capital gap between recent peak values and debt levels prior to the downturn, and current lower leverage and valuations, also were explored. A question and answer session was offered at the conclusion of the panel discussion.