Latest news with #FirstInvestors
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
First Hospitality opens up investment arm, targets $400M for hotel acquisitions
This story was originally published on Hotel Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Hotel Dive newsletter. First Hospitality opened up its decades-old investment arm, First Investors, to outside capital and launched the First Investors GP Fund to deploy $400 million in hotel acquisitions, the Chicago-based firm announced in a release obtained by Hotel Dive. First Hospitality anticipates that the GP Fund will supply sponsor capital for investment in six to 10 hotels over the next two to three years, targeting 150- to 350-key premium-branded or independent lifestyle hotels in growth markets. First Hospitality CEO David Duncan told Hotel Dive that while the firm favors regions with strong demographic trends and diverse demand drivers for investment, it will operate with a flexible approach to geography 'in which we place greater emphasis on the asset-level story than on fitting within a predefined market thesis.' The GP Fund platform is led by Duncan and governed by an ownership group under Executive Chairman Sam Schwartz and founder and Chairman Emeritus Stephen Schwartz. Collectively, the three executives have led more than $10 billion in hospitality transactions, according to the release. 'Approximately 20 percent of the fund will be our own capital, giving the firm and its senior leaders substantial skin in every transaction,' Sam Schwartz said in a statement. Since launching in 1985, the First Investors platform and its affiliates have completed 45 hotel transactions and currently own joint-venture positions in 18 hotels spanning 3,100 keys. First Investors 'benefits from direct alignment' with First Hospitality's operating platform, 'providing early visibility into local market dynamics and operational trends well before they appear in public data,' Duncan said in a statement. 'This vertical integration provides a differentiated advantage for our investors, particularly in today's market environment, where dislocation is creating some very unique investment opportunities.' Duncan told Hotel Dive that First Investors expects the national transaction environment to 'remain relatively stagnant in the near-term. 'As a result, we believe the most compelling hotel investment opportunities will be idiosyncratic — one-off dislocations at the asset level, often driven by distress at the property or capital structure,' he added. Duncan said the GP Fund will be particularly drawn to assets 'where the demand fundamentals align with our operational strengths, regardless of location.' Though some real estate investment trusts scaled back hotel investments in recent months, urban hotels in particular have remained a favored target for acquisitions, according to JLL research released last week. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Travel Daily News
19-05-2025
- Business
- Travel Daily News
First Hospitality launches First Investors
First Hospitality launches First Investors platform and $400m. GP fund, opening hotel investment to external partners amid strategic U.S. market opportunities. CHICAGO, IL – First Hospitality introduces First Investors, its dedicated hotel real estate investment platform, which has powered the company's lodging acquisitions and development for more than four decades and is now open to qualified outside investors. Concurrently, the firm also unveils First Investors GP Fund, which expects to supply sponsor capital for a targeted $400 million in U.S. hotel investment over the next 12 to 36 months. The platform is led by Chief Executive Officer David Duncan and governed by a seasoned ownership group: Sam Schwartz, Executive Chairman; Stephen Schwartz, founder and Chairman Emeritus. Collectively, the three executives have led more than $10 billion in hospitality transactions across value-add, ground-up, and adaptive-reuse strategies. Since 1985, First Investors and its affiliates have completed 45 hotel transactions, generating a 3.9x multiple of invested capital with an IRR over 20% on realized exits and currently own significant joint-venture positions in 18 hotels totaling 3,100 keys. Current representative investments include the Hiltons at McCormick Place (Chicago, IL), Hotel LeVeque, Autograph Collection (Columbus, OH), Tempo by Hilton Louisville Downtown NuLu (Louisville, KY), and the newly opened Hotel Ardent, a Tapestry Collection (Dayton, OH). 'First Investors benefits from direct alignment with our operating platform, providing early visibility into local market dynamics and operational trends well before they appear in public data,' said David Duncan, CEO of First Investors. 'This vertical integration provides a differentiated advantage for our investors, particularly in today's market environment, where dislocation is creating some very unique investment opportunities.' First Investors will focus on deploying the GP Fund alongside a select group of existing capital partners and other sophisticated investors into a portfolio of six to ten hotels, targeting 150 – 350-key, premium-branded or independent lifestyle assets located in growth markets with multiple demand generators. The firm will apply its proven value-creation playbook, which includes: Proprietary Sourcing – Draw on over four decades of experience, deep industry relationships, and a national footprint to identify off-market and strategically positioned opportunities where investment basis supports attractive risk-adjusted returns. Disciplined Capital Deployment – Maintain a selective, fundamentals-driven approach, aligning each investment with an appropriate capital structure that supports both near-term execution and long-term value creation. Integrated Value Creation – Utilize First Hospitality's operational platform to execute targeted capital improvements and operational enhancements, accelerating repositioning efforts and driving sustained cash flow and value growth. What sets First Investors apart is the fusion of institutional-grade underwriting and disciplined execution, driven by real-time insights from First Hospitality's award-winning management platform. This is paired with an entrepreneurial approach and a flexible capital structure, that has allowed First Investors to deliver strong, cycle-resilient results for its partners. 'Our GP Fund is all about alignment – approximately 20 percent of the fund will be our own capital, giving the firm and its senior leaders substantial skin in every transaction,' said Sam Schwartz, Executive Chairman of First Investors. Stephen Schwartz, Chairman Emeritus of First Investors, added: 'Bringing this platform to outside investors is the natural evolution of work we've been doing privately for 40 years through five lodging cycles.'
