Jean-Baptiste: “We are well-equipped to match investors with hospitality assets in-line with their investment goals.”
NEW YORK CITY—Level Group—a commercial and residential real estate brokerage firm—has created an in-house hospitality team, known as Morgensheer Hospitality at Level Group. The enterprise is headed up by hospitality industry veterans Trica Jean-Baptiste and Jan Kalanda.
With combined experience of over 55 years in the hospitality industry, Jean-Baptiste and Kalanda bring expertise in-house across a number of the field's areas, including property development, construction, hotel operations, sales, marketing, branding, understanding of key market segments, tour and travel, and travel trade.
Jean-Baptiste is a 22-year veteran of the hospitality industry, specializing in marketing, communications and branding. She has worked in-house—and provided agency representation—for brands such as Doral Hotels & Resorts, Le Parker Meridien, and Cendant Corp.'s (now Wyndham Hotels) Days Inns; Rocco Forte Hotels & Resorts; Michelangelo Hotel New York; Hotel Esprit St-Germain, Paris; Ragosta Hotels Collection, Amalfi Coast, Italy; Terme di Saturnia Spa & Golf Resort, Tuscany, Italy; the Scottish Business Tourism Unit and the Government of Dubai Tourism Authority.
Kalanda's 32-year hospitality career includes developing and launching the Gansevoort Hotels.
Kalanda's 32-year hospitality career includes developing and launching the Gansevoort Hotels, which now are in New York, Miami and Turks & Caicos. As an EVP and founding member of HK Hotels, he directed the development, design, pre-opening and ongoing operation of numerous hotels, including Aria Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic and Hotel Giraffe in New York. Kalanda began his hospitality career as chief engineer at the Garden City Hotel, in the Garden City section of Long Island.
The team's worldwide network within the hospitality industry of owners, operators, investors and vendors opens up multiple avenues to off-market opportunities, in which Morgensheer already is engaged in the New York and the Caribbean markets.
“Recent market trends, including the over-developed New York City hotel market, suggest that the hospitality real estate sector is ripe for expert brokerage services tailored to the hospitality industry,” says Michael Greenberg, CEO and general counsel, Level Group. “We are excited and proud to offer this unique capability to the hospitality industry led by such well-known and respected hospitality industry professionals.”
Adds Jean-Baptiste “What's key for hoteliers and investors is that Jan and I thoroughly understand the business of hospitality and are well-equipped to strategically match investors with hospitality assets that are in-line with their investment goals.”
She continues, “Important to hoteliers is our practice of confidentiality, understanding that operations and business of hotels are of the utmost importance during the process of identifying the appropriate buyer. We want to ensure productivity and profitability as we assist owners and investors in their efforts to both identify the appropriate investor and investment.”
“We are fortunate to have found a home with Level Group, which is known for delivering exceptional transactions and building long term relationships,” notes Kalanda. “Morgensheer Hospitality at Level Group is committed to delivering that same experience for the hospitality industry.”
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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.
