Henry S. Miller's local catch is J. David Young, a consultant and former head of franchise development for Hospitality Franchise Systems Inc., once a subsidiary of the former Cendant Hotel Group of Parsippany, NJ. The Ashford camp has landed Alan L. Tallis as executive vice president and Larry Doyle as senior vice president of asset management.
Sam Kartalis, president and COO of Dallas-based Henry S. Miller Commercial, tells GlobeSt.com that Young put the proposal on the table for the company to form a hospitality group. The firm's executives have invested in hotels through the years, but the only property in the corporate portfolio is the 237-room Admiral Hotel at 1507 N. Watson Rd. in Arlington.
Kartalis' brother was co-founder of Concord Hospitality Group in Raleigh, NC so the local executive has been investing in the industry nearly two decades. "It's been a pet project of mine," Kartalis says. "I am always on the search for programs to add and thought it would be a great fit. And, what he really needed was a platform with a company that was recognized."
Set to start April 1 at Henry S. Miller, Young is co-owner, broker and adviser for Intergroup Cos. of Dallas. While at Hospitality Franchise Systems, he rose to managing director in charge of expansion and development in 29 countries in Asia, South Africa, the Pacific Rim, Middle East and Latin America.
Henry S. Miller's new vice president initially will solo, but Kartalis says the plan is to add other hospitality professionals for brokerage and development alike. Young and Kartalis are in the midst of negotiations with a municipality for a new town center project that would include a hotel.
Young's mission will include finding hotel development partners, which will include the Henry S. Miller hierarchy. "We could be buyers, sellers, syndicators or developers," Kartalis says about the emerging opportunity by having a well-known hospitality veteran on board.
At Ashford, Tallis, a 27-year veteran, has been working as a consultant since July. He was president and chief development officer for LQ Management LLC in Dallas and president of La Quinta Franchising LLC until $367-million acquisition by New York City-based Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, which retained him as a senior adviser. As Ashford's new executive vice president, Tallis will be overseeing asset management and leading value-add, development and redevelopment projects that are under way and planned for Ashford's 51-hotel portfolio buy in April 2007.
Also a 27-year industry veteran, Doyle will be the day-to-day overseer for asset management. He most recently was senior vice president of asset management for Alcor Acquisition LLC, where he prepped and positioned the Bethesda, MD-based MeriStar Hospitality Corp.'s hotel portfolio for sale, working with Blackstone as well after that $2.6-billion deal.
The Ashford hires include Donald J. Denzin, senior vice president of human resources. Denzin previously was HR vice president for Prentiss Properties Trust of Dallas and its buyer, Brandywine Realty Trust of Radnor, PA.
"All three are well-respected and recognized within the industry," Monty J. Bennett, Ashford's president and CEO, says in this morning's press release about the hires. "With a sizable value-added renovation program planned for the next several years and the importance we have placed on our internal growth initiatives, Alan and Larry's proven asset management, operations and brand management expertise will play a key role in Ashford's overall performance. Don's effort will help cement the bonds among all associates in our growing platform."
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