CHMWarnick and Pinnacle Advisory Group Form Strategic Alliance
Move Collectively Broadens Service Offerings to Provide Additional Asset Management and Advisory Services to Current and Future Clients
BOSTON, April 28, 2021—Officials of CHMWarnick, the leading hotel asset management and owner advisory services company, and Pinnacle Advisory Group, a premier national hospitality consulting firm and women-owned business, today announced the formation of a strategic alliance. CHMWarnick and Pinnacle boast company track records spanning 25 and 30 years, respectively. The move leverages vast industry experience and reputation, while broadening the business platform, depth of expertise and knowledge base of both companies to provide superior asset management and hospitality advisory services to their respective clientele.
“The new pandemic reality has resulted in a tremendous surge for assistance from an increasingly larger pool of hotel owners, investment groups and lenders,” said Chad Crandell, managing director and CEO, CHMWarnick. “Whether it is advice on how to deal with an existing hotel in an underperforming market, assessing acquisition or development opportunities or simply strategizing logical next steps, hoteliers need experienced, financially prudent guidance. This alliance strengthens both companies’ abilities to respond to an ever-changing landscape as the hospitality and travel industries continue to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as support clients looking to take advantage of investment opportunities that this unique period presents.”
Combined, the strategic alliance immediately will service an asset management portfolio approximating 80 hotels with more than 32,000 rooms nationwide, representing virtually all segments and major brands, including among others, Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Accor, as well as a growing number of high-profile independent and lifestyle properties and select-service portfolios. The entities specialize in convention headquarter hotels, complex resorts, urban lifestyle and luxury properties, upper-upscale landmark assets, select-service and extended-stay hotels, as well as properties proximate to airports and college and university campuses. Beyond the $15 billion in lodging real estate overseen as part of the asset management platform, the alliance collectively is advising owners and lenders on approximately 250 lodging projects annually, including hotel development, repositioning, management/brand selection, operations assessment, acquisition due diligence and ownership-entity accounting services.
Pinnacle has guided clients on a wide range of critical decisions throughout the life of a hotel investment, from initial feasibility and branding strategy to operational reviews and competitive impact studies. Often, Pinnacle’s work is on the front end of an investment strategy, providing due diligence and advisory prior to the development of an asset or during the initial stage of an acquisition. The alliance provides an opportunity for Pinnacle clients who may be looking to continue with professional oversight to access CHMWarnick’s asset management and accounting platform and related services geared toward value enhancement. Likewise, CHMWarnick can tap into Pinnacle’s market research, trends analysis and related expertise to support their clients with acquisition opportunities, strategic repositioning and development planning and on asset management engagements.
The affiliation will bring a combined professional staff of more than 50 industry experts across 13 offices nationwide.
“We saw this as an ideal match between the two companies – we fit like a hand in a glove,” said Rachel Roginsky, principal, Pinnacle Advisory Group. “Both of our groups are recognized as leaders within the industry with reputations for delivering sound, strategic advice based on decades of experience. By drawing on each company’s distinct strengths, this alliance allows us to offer the most comprehensive services available and expanded benefits for our clients.
“Furthermore, we’ve had multiple occasions where we’ve worked together throughout our respective histories, from joint membership and presently holding multiple board positions with such prestigious organizations as the Hospitality Asset Managers Association (HAMA), the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC) and the Castell Project,” Roginsky added. “While we are formally announcing our alliance today, our groups actively have been working together in a collaborative capacity for several months, across multiple client engagements. The synergies between our groups have proven invaluable, and I’m looking forward to building upon our early success in delivering incremental value and benefit to our clients.
“We believe the need for asset management and advisory services only will increase as hoteliers seek the best solutions to protect and optimize their investments. There is no ‘one-solution-fits-all’ approach. Markets will respond at different times and in different ways. Institutional investment, big-box hotels have been hard hit particularly. Lenders are demanding loan payments now and strategic plans on how properties will emerge stronger and better positioned. The encouraging news is that with the continued vaccine roll-out and a seemingly reinvigorated approach to directly dealing with COVID-19, the light at the end of the tunnel finally is coming into clearer focus,” Roginsky stated.
Both CHMWarnick and Pinnacle Advisory Group pride themselves on their ability to pivot quickly to meet client demands. While the move automatically adds bench strength to each company, the companies stress that internal expansion is equally important to their long-term growth plans. “The key to longevity is adaptability,” Crandell noted. “We both believe in the importance of cultivating talent from within, particularly as the universe of service providers has exploded, with some being obviously more talented than others. The alliance further allows us to provide additional mentoring and growth paths for our team members looking to expand their own careers.”
About CHMWarnick
CHMWarnick is the leading provider of hotel asset management and advisory services on behalf of owners and lenders. The company asset manages over 70 hotels comprising approximately 29,000 rooms valued at roughly $15 billion and is advising on development projects valued at over $2 billion. CHMWarnick’s services include asset management, loan monitoring, hotel receivership, hotel planning and development, acquisition due diligence, owner-entity accounting, management/operator selection and negotiation, capital planning, and disposition. CHMWarnick is regarded as a thought leader in hotel ownership issues and asset management practices, and has six offices nationwide, including locations in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale, and San Francisco. For more information, contact 978.522.7002 or visit www.CHMWarnick.com. For the latest company news, follow CHMWarnick on Twitter @CHMWarnick and LinkedIn.
About Pinnacle Advisory Group
Founded in 1991, Pinnacle Advisory Group is a premier, national hospitality consulting firm with significant experience with consulting services pertaining to hospitality facilities throughout the United States and the Caribbean.
Pinnacle provides consulting services to a wide range of clients, including the traditional players in the hospitality industry – investors, lenders, and operators as well as the country’s major real estate investment and development firms, pension funds, REITs, insurance companies. Pinnacle executives are frequently cited as industry experts and the fruits of our research and analyses are used at the highest levels in the hospitality industry for key decision-making purposes. Pinnacle possesses this level of expertise across the full spectrum of hospitality-related investments: hotels, resorts, conference centers, interval ownership resort facilities, golf courses, ski areas, marinas, and public assembly facilities, including theme parks, arenas, convention centers, and exhibition centers. Pinnacle Advisory Group is a SOWMBA – Woman Owned Business. For additional information, please visit https://pinnacle-advisory.com