SANTA MONICA, Calif. — John Murphy, founding president of Evolution Hospitality, and David Parsky, founder of Arris Investments, announced this week their new venture, Triton Hospitality Group, a boutique hospitality firm focused on distressed assets and loans resulting from the current downturn. With a combined 50 years of experience in the hotel and investment management industries, the new partners seek to invest in selective ventures, leveraging their diverse skills to maximize value, while collaborating with owners, lenders, and capital providers to bring assets to their full potential.
“In 2020 we experienced an extraordinarily swift and unpredictable downward spiral of our economy which overwhelmed the hospitality and travel industries,” said Murphy, partner at Triton Hospitality Group. “While we are extremely optimistic and eager to watch the industry recover, we are putting our combined expertise and track records to work with owners to drive asset value and achieve rapid recuperation and long-term success.”
In his new role, Murphy will oversee strategy efforts, asset performance, and business analytics at Triton. In 2011, he founded Southern California-based Evolution Hospitality and served as president and CEO of the hotel management group. Under Murphy’s leadership, Evolution grew from nine assets at launch to more than 100, including 75 open and 25 in development, by the end of 2019, and company-managed revenue topped $1 billion. In 2015, Evolution was acquired by Aimbridge Hospitality and Murphy remained as the president of this wholly-owned subsidiary. In 2020, he become a strategic advisor where he continued to work with senior leaders until launching Triton.
Parsky brings over 22 years of institutional real estate investment management experience to Triton and will oversee acquisitions, finance, and capital markets efforts for the firm. Most recently, he directed the business and investment strategy for Arris Investments, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment management firm. Prior to Arris, he held senior leadership positions at several high-profile investment firms including Apollo Global Real Estate, Citi Property Investors, Colony Capital, and Security Capital Group and has been responsible for over $2 billion of real estate investments.
”The shock to the system that the hospitality business experienced in 2020 has created an urgent need for owners and lenders to revisit and restructure their capital stacks as a predicate to any prudent recovery plan,” said Parsky. “Triton has the tools, capital, and experience to accomplish this crucial step for its projects.”
