Non-Traditional Financing Meets Long-Term Goals

CHICAGO—There are many hotel owners seeking loan amounts between $5 million and $15 million and typically look to a local bank for a bank loan or an SBA loan. Bank loans or SBA loans are usually the only choice for construction financing and buyers with less experience in the hotel industry. However, experienced hotel owners who shy away from alternative financing options and continue to make their local bank the first (or only) stop on their financing search, may be shortchanging their property, themselves and their ability to fund future projects. Those hoteliers may be eligible for non-recourse loans that don’t require personal guaranties and offer long-term benefits such as longer terms, lower rates and the ability to be assumed. There are different levers that can be pushed and pulled to structure the financing and weaknesses in one area can often be mitigated by strengths in another.

In preparation for The Lodging Conference in Phoenix October 6 through 9, we talked with Jeff Bucaro, EVP, and Rushi Shah, SVP, of Aries Capital LLC, for some insight into Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS) loans.