NEW YORK CITY—John Murray has been named director of hospitality capital markets at Helmsley Spear. He brings more than 25 years of hospitality experience to his new position with considerable background in developing owner relations and managing all aspects of multi-site, high-volume hospitality.
Prior to joining Helmsley Spear, Murray served as the managing member at the Oak Park Group, LLC and was responsible for identifying and developing a portfolio of hospitality real estate through ground up development, acquisition, redevelopment, and repositioning of non-performing hospitality assets.
He reportedly has proven expertise in multi-unit full service and select service hotels, brand franchising, site development, building hospitality portfolios through management contract expansion and hospitality real estate sales.
As director of hospitality capital markets, Murray will be responsible for all capital transactions, including acquisitions, disposition, capitalizations and debt structures for the firm's hospitality division.
“John is an extremely talented professional who has been a leader in the hospitality industry for more than two decades,” says Kent Swig, president of Helmsley Spear. “He has worked with both domestic and global companies, and we are excited to now have his expertise at Helmsley Spear.”
“I am thrilled with the confidence that Kent has shown in me to join the Helmsley Spear team. I look forward to contributing to the success and growth of the company in the years to come,” adds Murray.
Murray began his career at Konover Hotel Corp. He has since gone on to work with global corporations such as InterContinental Hotels Group and Hyatt Hotels Corp. overseeing development and strategy for numerous brands under the corporations' ownership.
Some of Murray's past experiences included asset management assignments such as the oversight of the transition of Briar Hall Country Club to Trump National; the oversight and execution of the franchise agreement of The Holiday Inn Wall Street to Guild Hall; and several development franchise transactions for Hyatt Corporation including Hyatt Place in Mohegan Sun and Hyatt Place North Shore in Pittsburgh.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
