Hotel Transaction Market Down in '09

SAN DIEGO-Due to a dearth of debt and the unwillingness of owners to sell their properties at this time, the lodging transaction market in 2009 will be at a standstill. That was the consensus of a panel discussion held today during the eighth annual Americas Lodging Investment Summit. The three-day event, held here, drew 2,400 attendees and concludes today.

The panel, entitled “Executing Acquisitions After the Capital Markets Meltdown,” was moderated by Michael G. Desiato, vice president and group publisher of Incisive Media’s real estate group, the parent company of GlobeSt.com. On the panel were: Michael P. Everett, executive vice president of Lowe Hospitality Group; Robert Kline, president and co-founder of the Chartres Lodging Group LLC; Michael S. Kosmas, partner, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP; Joseph Long, EVP of acquisitions and development for Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants; and Dan Weede, partner, Alston & Bird LLP.

Although the topic was how to undertake acquisitions in today’s environment, several of the panelists said they had not done a deal in more than a year. For example, Long said his last transaction occurred 18 months ago. “If people thought 2008 was a slow transaction year, look out, this one is going to be really, really slow.” Long said.