May 2018 Digital Issue

FINANCING
SHOW US
THE MONEY
ISTOCK.COM/ISMAGILOV
Hoteliers
and
would-be
hoteliers
take note:
the time
is ripe for you to push your
mitts deeply into pockets
other than your own —
and not withdraw them
until they’re clutching
wads of cash.
“The financing is excellent
today,” asserts Rob
O’Neill, CEO of American
Hotel Income Properties
(AHIP) — a Vancouverbased
REIT that owns
115 hotels, for which
ONE Lodging Management
is the exclusive
hotel manager. “It’s a
very positive, buoyant
time.” This is the case, say
hotel investors, because
the sector is performing
relatively strongly, the
Canadian hotel industry
is mature and disciplined,
the economy’s good and
tourism is growing —
particularly in Toronto
and Vancouver, the two
strongest accommodation-sector
cities in the
country.
“It’s an easier proposition
for a hotel to get a loan
now than it was 10 or 15
years ago, full stop,” says
Angus Wilkinson, who
has specialized in hotel
Strong industry performance
is making it easier to secure
hotel financing
brokerage for 25 years and
is president of Vancouver
real-estate agency,
Tyne Hospitality Services
Limited.
Indeed, agrees Bill
Fortier, SVP of Development,
Americas, Hilton
Worldwide. “It’s a borrower’s
market if you have an
existing hotel in an urban
setting or a strong suburban
location. There’s a lot
BY LAURA PRATT
of money chasing existing
cash flow.”
FINANCING PARTICULARS
Mostly, the hotel-financing
scene bustles with the
business of acquisition
loans to help purchase
properties — in the form of
both senior and mezzanine
financing — and continued
loans on stabilized
properties. Construction
hoteliermagazine.com
MAY 2018 HOTELIER 31