PALM BEACH, Fla.—Chatham Lodging Trust has announced that it has promoted Dennis M. Craven from chief financial officer to executive vice president and chief operating officer. The company also announced that Jeremy Wegner is joining the company as senior vice president and chief financial officer.
“With our portfolio of owned and joint-venture hotels now exceeding $3 billion and more than 130 hotels nationwide, combined with our appetite to continue building Chatham into the premier upscale, extended-stay, and select-service hotel REIT, it was important for us to add depth to our executive management team,” said Jeffrey H. Fisher, Chatham’s chairman, president, and chief executive officer. “Dennis’ promotion recognizes the significant contributions he has made to the company since joining Chatham and Jeremy brings nearly two decades of sophisticated financial and hospitality expertise to Chatham.
“Dennis will remain responsible for Chatham’s overall financial strategy, will lead our expanding asset management, investor and brand relationship functions, and oversee the overall operations of Chatham,” said Fisher.
Wegner has a significant track record of involvement in more than $50 billion of mergers, acquisitions and equity and debt financings. Prior to joining Chatham, he served as vice president of mergers and acquisitions for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, where he was responsible for identifying and executing merger, acquisition, and divestiture opportunities. At Starwood, he played a significant role in evaluating strategic alternatives for its timeshare business and executing the announced spin-off. Prior to that, he was a senior vice president in the real estate investment banking groups at Barclays Capital Inc. and Lehman Brothers, where he covered the lodging sector for over ten years. He began his career as an analyst in the investment banking group at Credit Suisse in 1998.
“We have known Jeremy for 15 years, dating back to when Innkeepers was a client of Lehman Brothers and during his time at Barclays, and his knowledge of Chatham and our portfolio is certainly a positive as we expand our management team,” Fisher noted. “Jeremy has a deep list of relationships with the hospitality community that will expand our ability to execute transactions. We continue to have an aggressive appetite for growth and adding Jeremy will allow us to continue executing transactions efficiently and effectively.”
