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Hospitality

Overview

Locke Lord LLP has assisted hospitality and lending clients in all facets of hotel and resort management, operation, development and financing for over 25 years.

Representation of Hotel and Resort Managers, Operators, Owners and Developers

Locke Lord attorneys have a great deal of experience representing prominent national and international hotel, resort, time-share, restaurant and hospitality companies. We counsel hotel and resort clients on development and management matters, brand operations, purchasing and national contracts, travel partner incentive programs, financing, credit enhancement, business combinations, acquisitions and dispositions and general corporate matters. We have also worked with a number of hotel brands to help create an industry standard hotel reservations platform. Our representation of hotel and resort companies includes the following:

Acquisition and disposition of hotel properties, entities and brands
Hotel development and renovation
Negotiation of hotel management agreements
Assisting branded management companies with development of mezzanine loan and sliver equity investment programs
Construction contracts and litigation
Technical services agreements
Group and convention contracts, marketing agreements, food and beverage consulting agreements and liquor license operating agreements
Purchasing agreements
Retail leases
Restaurant operator agreements
Marketing and advertising agreements
Travel partner incentive program agreements, including airline mileage agreements
Contracts with national and international vendors for system-wide goods and services
Licensing, franchising and intellectual property arrangements
Negotiation of specialized contracting arrangements for and with providers of reservations systems and information services
Insurance arrangements and related matters
Capital funding, asset, equity and merger transactions, public and private
Representation of real estate investment trusts in hotel property acquisitions and dispositions
Tax exempt bond financing
Sale leaseback arrangements
Hotel investment/development programs with joint venture partners
Credit facilities for acquisition programs, construction and operations
Labor, employment and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance
Condominium hotel structuring and mixed use development

Representative transactions include:

The initial public offering of equity and debt securities for an international hotel corporation;
The acquisition of 27 hotel properties located throughout the United States by a pension advisor;
The acquisition, through a consensual bankruptcy, of 17 hotels located throughout the United States by an affiliate of a national investment bank;
The acquisition of a portfolio of 17 hotels, together with the associated brand and franchise operations;
The sale of a portfolio consisting of 19 hotels located in eight states;
The sale of a 1,300 acre New England resort; and
The negotiation and/or administration of technical services agreements and over 300 management agreements relating to hotels and condominium hotels in the U.S., Caribbean and Europe.

Representation of Lenders in the Hospitality Industry

Locke Lord attorneys represent commercial and specialty lenders and special and master servicers in all aspects of transactions secured primarily by hospitality properties. From working with underwriters and analysts to structure complex hospitality transactions in the most advantageous way possible, to counseling clients regarding ongoing property-level issues and enforcing the client’s remedies while maintaining an asset’s value, our attorneys guide our clients and bring decades of experience to the table. Locke Lord’s superior skill, vision and wealth of knowledge in this area enhances our clients’ positions and investments. Our representation of lenders in the hospitality industry includes the following:

Originated over $12 Billion of construction, mini-perm and conduit loans secured by a wide range of hotel projects and properties located throughout the U.S. and Canada for a premier hospitality lender
Represented the administrative agent and lead lender in the origination, syndication and restructuring of a $405 Million construction lending facility for the development of a 5-star resort hotel in Orlando
Represented the lender in the origination and servicing of a $200 Million multi-state hotel portfolio, involving cross-collateralization and cross-default issues, as well as lenders in connection with other pools of multi-jurisdictional hotel loans
Structured and negotiated a global credit-enhancement program on behalf of one of the country’s largest hospitality lenders with a leading domestic and international hotel franchisor and management company to facilitate the development of hundreds of new hotels throughout the U.S. and Canada
Represented lenders in hospitality loan originations and modifications involving federal historic and new markets tax credits and state and local tax abatement and tax credit programs
Represented senior, subordinate and mezzanine lenders in the negotiation of inter-creditor, co-lender, syndication and participation agreements, as well as in connection with related servicing, administration and enforcement matters
Structured and negotiated syndicated construction lending facilities with domestic and international investors, loans for major historic renovations, and credit facilities for the development of golf and destination resort properties, fractional-interest resort properties and condominium hotels
Negotiated comfort letters, consent and subordination agreements, subordination, non-disturbance and attornment agreements and represented lenders in connection with related management and franchise issues with all major hotel flags, including brands under the Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Starwood and InterContinental umbrellas
Structured and negotiated a comprehensive FF&E lending program in cooperation with a major hotel franchisor to be implemented at branded hotels across the United States

Hospitality

Overview

Representation of Hotel and Resort Managers, Operators, Owners and Developers

Representation of Lenders in the Hospitality Industry

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