Dan Berman

For the past 25 years, Dan Berman has led and/or provided advisory services to developers, lenders, investors, hotel chains and franchise companies. Mr. Berman is a creative problem solver and trusted advisor who has extensive experience in the hotel industry having held senior leadership positions at two national hotel companies. Mr. Berman combines strong practical experience with objective critical analysis to arrive at prudent courses of action for borrowers, lenders and investors.

Mr. Berman is responsible for leading the firm’s service offerings to the hotel industry and is also active in the firm’s restructuring and real estate capital market practice groups.

Recent cases include:

• Financial Advisor to lender which made a development loan to a premier youth travels sports destination within a 1,300 acre mixed use master planned community.   Advised the lender on restructuring the loan and recapitalizing the company.  Advise the newly reorganized company on all real estate matters including the development of new hotels, acquisition and disposition of real estate, and design and construction related activities.  Served as Director on company board.
• Manager to an owner entity composed of a special opportunity fund and several banks in connection with the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach in coastal Florida. Responsibilities include overseeing the asset manager and hotel management company, monitoring the build out and sale of residential condominium units, serving as a Director on several condominium association boards, and performing accounting and reporting functions for the owner entity.
• Financial Advisor to the developer of a large mixed use project on a premier parcel of land in midtown Atlanta. Assisted the developer in structuring and obtaining senior and mezzanine debt to acquire the land.
• Financial Advisor to the Trustee of a liquidating trust with a bank syndicate as its beneficiary. Trust assets include a luxury hotel within a resort residential and golf course community (the Ritz-Carlton Lodge at Reynolds Plantation). Monitored the hotel operator, managed cash flow, coordinated a soft goods renovation, and performed accounting and reporting functions. Supported the marketing and disposition of the hotel asset, including engaging a broker, responding to buyer due diligence requests and preparing closing pro-rations.
• Represented a developer consultant to the owner of two golf courses (PGA / TPC Sawgrass) and residual land involving the potential acquisition of a resort hotel adjacent to the development. 
• Represented a land owner in the positioning and marketing of a land parcel for hotel use to multiple candidate hotel developers.
  Retained in a litigation support role in a matter involving the financing of a resort hotel and a large scale residential development (the Sea Island Resort). Scope of work included assessing historical valuations and real estate appraisals that were used to support the project financings.
• Retained as an asset manager by a national finance company on a foreclosed, partially completed select service hotel. Services include securing and maintaining the asset, obtaining costs to complete construction and FF&E procurement and selecting a broker to market and sell the hotel.
• Performed financial underwriting and due diligence in connection with the preparation of a loan commitment on behalf of a capital source to fund the purchase of two hotels from a lender.
• Assisted a private real estate developer perform financial due diligence during the acquisition of a 300+ unit resort condominium and club operations.

Mr. Berman has significant, practical hotel industry experience, having held senior leadership positions at Suburban Lodges of America, Inc. and US Franchise Systems, Inc. During his career, Mr. Berman has been involved in the development of numerous hotels, the underwriting, sourcing and structuring of hotel debt and equity, and in the acquisition and disposition of hotel assets. Mr. Berman is very familiar with the inherent complexities in valuing a hotel given its combination of real estate and operating components.