Raleigh, N.C.—Three seasoned hotel executives with a combined 80 years of hotel, development, acquisition, and management experience today announced the formation of Winston Hotels, LLC to develop and acquire hotels across the United States.
The three executives include:
Robert W. Winston III, executive chairman of the board and co-founder, has been involved in hotel real estate for more than 27 years, most recently as chief executive officer with Winston Hospitality, a hotel operator founded in 1991. He is the former co-founder and chief executive officer of the original Winston Hotels, Inc., a publicly traded hospitality REIT that ranked in the top quartile of public hospitality REITs for shareholder investment returns before being acquired in 2007.
Joseph V. Green, chief executive officer and co-founder, brings with him nearly 40 years of hospitality and real estate leadership experience and in-depth expertise in corporate finance and real estate acquisitions/development in both public and private organizations. He co-founded and was president of the original Winston Hotels, Inc., and most recently served as president of The Preiss Company (TPCO), one of the nation’s largest, privately-held, student housing owner-operators with roughly $1.5 billion of assets under management.
Mathew A. Jalazo, executive vice-president of development, has been an integral part of hotel real estate transactions, including acquisitions and development, across the United States and Canada in his nearly 15 years of experience. Prior to joining Winston, he served as the vice president of development for Urgo Hotels & Resorts, a Bethesda, Md.-based hotel company that develops, acquires, and operates distinctive and unique hotels and resorts in major markets and resort locations in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. During his tenure there, he was instrumental in growing the company’s portfolio from 18 to 44 hotels.
Combined, the executive team has executed more than $2 billion in transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, recaps, and development.
“We see a significant number of hotel investment opportunities in the foreseeable future for properties with the right dynamics,” Winston said. “While certain markets may be at capacity, especially the top MSAs, there always will be opportunities that offer above average returns. That’s where we will concentrate our activity, typically as long-term holders that are better prepared to weather market disruptions.”
The newly formed company plans to focus on opportunistic developments and value-add acquisitions. Winston will target markets with positive current and future growth trends indicative of long-term demand growth.
“We have a long-term outlook with patient capital to develop through all phases of the investment cycle,” Green added. “We prefer to look at the bigger picture. Is the market experiencing limited supply growth or does it have the ability to absorb supply growth in the long term? How has the market rebounded from the Great Recession? As a result, we will be in a limited group of developers who match our profile and experience, which we believe gives us a significant competitive advantage in all phases of the real estate cycle.”
Winston will target premium brands, including select-service and compact full-service hotels, within the Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG brand families.
“We plan to capitalize on our extensive and strong relationships with brands, brokers, and executives throughout the industry to grow our existing pipeline of projects across the U.S.,” Jalazo noted. “We are taking an aggressive, yet measured, approach to build a unique portfolio of hotels in markets that can stand the test of time.”
