NATIONAL REPORT—A variety of opinions are out there when it comes to the current lending landscape with optimism and a good dose of concern about where the economy is in the current cycle both in the mix.

To get a sense of what is happening in the lending arena, Hotel Business chatted with several lending executives. They are Chris A. Chiotis, principal/founder of Pacifica Capital & Brokerage Inc. in Dana Point, CA; Geoffrey E. Davis, senior principal with Davis Hotel Capital Inc. in Denver; and Arthur Fefferman, president/CEO, AFC Realty Capital in New York.

How is the lending landscape for hotels so far in 2018?
Chiotis: The flow of new loan requests continues to be strong through the first quarter of 2018. At the same time, some lenders believe that the hotel sector is peaking and have begun pulling back a bit. While the fundamentals of the overall economy continue to be strong, some lenders are starting to have concerns about the amount of new supply that has recently come online or that is in the pipeline for many markets throughout the U.S.
Davis: There remains plenty of debt capital available to hotel owners and developers. That said, we are in a rising-interest-rate environment and debt terms such as LTV and spreads are changing, making for a more conservative lending environment.
Fefferman: The hotel lending market remains buoyant, reflecting the continuing strength and stability of the economy and the hotel market. The inflow of capital for hotel lending is healthy. Overall, lenders are maintaining reasonable vigilance of underwriting and markets with oversupply.

What kinds of lending terms can owners/developers expect?
Chiotis: We all know interest rates are on the rise, but we continue to place fixed-rate purchase and refinance debt on hotels throughout the U.S. by way of our strong lending relationships. Depending on strength of the sponsor, nature of execution, quality of the asset and location, rates are generally in the mid-to-high 4% range. With the 10-year treasury approaching 3%, it is important that owners move to execute terms with an intermediary that specializes in hotel finance, as lost time underwriting a deal can be costly to the borrower in this rising-interest-rate environment.
Davis: More pressure on lowering LTV/LTC, and higher spreads and more conservative underwriting; while debt funds are opportunistically filling some of the gaps, the cost of that capital is higher than bank debt.
Fefferman: While interest rates have risen in recent months and additional moderate upward trends are forecasted throughout 2018, interest rates continue to be manageable. Interest rates for five- to 10-year fixed terms should remain stable in the 5-5.5% range with leverage on senior debt in the 6.5-7% LTV range.

What is getting a lot of play: fixed rate, floating rate, mezz or other types of debt? And for what?
Chiotis: Construction financing continues to be in demand. We recently funded an independent boutique hotel in the Los Angeles area with an LTC of 75%. For the most part, our clients are requesting long-term fixed-rate product. Many are opting out of floating-rate product that has seen upward pressure as a result of the recent Fed adjustments and resulting uptick in the prime rate. We are seeing floating-rate requests for deals in need of renovation or repositioning, and have a short-term hold horizon. Requests for nonrecourse debt is also on the rise as the cycle appears to be moving into “extra innings.”
Davis: The most requests we get are for development and construction financing, which is getting tighter and tighter. A good project with a strong sponsor can still get done, but it will require more equity in the years ahead, hence the emergence of mezz and pref equity players for ground-up projects.
Fefferman: With the strong supply of capital by a growing “bench” of lenders, the options of fixed, floating, mezz and preferred equity is ample. The appropriate type of financing is deal strategy driven—higher leverage with mezz, value-added flexibility with floating rate, stabilized long-term holders with fixed-rate.

Are certain lodging segments, e.g. select-service projects vs. full-service, or markets (primary, secondary, tertiary) a better bet for financing right now? Why?
Chiotis: Existing full- and select-service product in the major CBDs around the U.S. continue to receive the most favorable look by lenders, while limited-service new-construction product in secondary and tertiary markets tends to receive the most strict underwriting.
Davis: Select-service is always going to get the most play from all levels of lenders, as it is the easiest to underwrite. Full-service and resort financing is still plentiful for existing assets, but tightening for development of those types of projects.
Fefferman: The institutional, REIT, public/private mortgage funds favor primary and secondary markets with the tertiary markets being the focus of local lenders, banks and credit unions. Some lenders may distinguish between full- and limited-service in their lending appetite.

What does the climate look like for the rest of 2018 and beyond?
Chiotis: We believe the hotel sector will continue to post strong performance through 2018 and beyond. Underwriting will become more of a balancing act, as the debate surrounding where we are in the cycle continues and we better understand how many “extra innings” are on the horizon.
Davis: Plenty of capital is in the market, but owners and developers need to adjust their expectations, as clearly the froth is out of the market.
Fefferman: Barring any unexpected economic or political crises, hotel lending is expected to remain healthy. The opportunity for a borrower is to identify competitive lending sources for a deal, in which an investment banker/mortgage broker can be instrumental in adding value. HB

Company listing from A-Z

Based on surveys submitted to Hotel Business

Access Point Financial
1 Ravinia Dr., 9th Fl., Atlanta, GA 30346
404-382-9599
[email protected]
accesspointfinancial.com
Management: Jon S. Wright, chairman/CEO

AFC Realty Capital
145 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019
212-245-2050
[email protected]
afcrealtycapital.com
Management: Arthur Fefferman, president/CEO
Hotel Loans    15
Volume ($M)    300
Loan Range ($M)    8-30
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    12

Aries Conlon Capital
401 W. Ontario St., Ste. 301, Chicago, IL 60654
312-642-0100
[email protected]
ariescapital.com
Management: Rushi Shah, principal/CEO
Hotel Loans    21
Volume ($M)    203
Loan Range ($M)    6-62
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    9.7

Arriba Capital
4400 N. Scottsdale Rd., Ste. 9-89, Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-234-8366
[email protected]
arribacapital.com
Management: Ryan Bosch, VP
Hotel Loans    24
Volume ($M)    150
Loan Range ($M)    1-50
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    9

Berkadia
521 Fifth Ave., 20th Fl., New York, NY 10175
646-600-7800
berkadia.com
Management: Justin Wheeler, CEO

Davis Hotel Capital
100 Fillmore St., 5th Fl.,Denver, CO 80106
303-385-8602
[email protected]
dhotelcap.com
Management: Geoffrey Davis, senior principal
Hotel Loans    5
Volume ($M)    150
Loan Range ($M)    8-62
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    30

Engel & Volkers
8430 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywoood, CA 90069
310-621-2870
[email protected]
evusa.com
Management: Richard Stein, international hospitality and CRE advisor
Hotel Loans    4
Volume ($M)    65
Loan Range ($M)    5-50
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)15

First American Realty Associates LLC
60 Four Seasons Dr., North Caldwell, NJ 07006
973-575-7547
[email protected]
firstamrealty.com
Management: Joe Epstein, president
Hotel Loans    n/a
Volume ($M)    n/a
Loan Range ($M)    5-100
Avg. size of loans ($M)    10

HMG Hotels, dba HMG Hospitality
11590 Bernardo Ct., Ste. 211, San Diego, CA 92127
858-673-1534
[email protected]
hmghospitality.com
Management: Jack Giacomini
Hotel Loans    1
Volume ($M)    12
Loan Range ($M)    8-20
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    12

HREC
6400 S. Fiddlers Green Cir., Ste. 1730, Greenwood Village, CO 80111
760-931-5606
[email protected]
hrec.com
Management: Mike Armstrong, principal
Hotel Loans    n/a
Volume ($M)    n/a
Loan Range ($M)    5-100
Avg. Size of Loans ($M    )15

Largo Capital
2420 N. Forest Rd., Buffalo, NY 14068
716-906-4583
[email protected]
largocapital.com
Management: John Svec, managing director
Hotel Loans    14
Volume ($M)    225
Loan Range ($M)    2-200
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    15

Mission Capital Advisors
41 Madison Ave., 35th Fl., New York, NY 10012
212-925-6692
[email protected]
missioncap.com
Management: Jordan Ray, principal
Hotel Loans    50+
Volume ($M)    500+
Loan Range ($M)    10-1B
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    30

Northland Networks
150 S. 5th St., Ste. 3300, Minneapolis, MN 55402
612-851-5956
[email protected]
northlandnetworksinc.com
Management: Seth N. Kahn, managing director
Hotel Loans    3-5
Volume ($M)    40
Loan Range ($M)    4.5-25
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    11

Pacifica Capital & Brokerage Inc.
34145 Pacific Coast Hwy., #173, Dana Point, CA 92629
949-429-3511
[email protected]
pacificab.com
Management: Chris Chiotis, principal/founder
Hotel Loans    23
Volume ($M)    n/a
Loans Range ($M    )2-100
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    6.5

PMC Commercial Trust
17950 Preston Rd., Ste. 600, Dallas, TX 75252
972-349-3207
[email protected]
pmctrust.com
Management: Laurie Ivy, SVP of lending
Hotel Loans    39
Volume ($M)    79.4
Loans Range ($M    )0.5-5
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    2

PMZ Realty Capital LLC
200 W. 41st St., New York, NY 10036
212-277-8252
[email protected]
pmzcapital.com
Management: Michael Sonnabend, managing member
Hotel Loans    55
Volume ($M)    950
Loan Range ($M)    5-150
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    17

Premier Capital Associates LLC
12600 SE 38th St., Ste. 207, Bellevue, WA 98006
425-957-0700
[email protected]
premiercapitalassoc.com
Management: Greg Morris, managing director
Hotel Loans    n/a
Volume ($M)    n/a
Loan Range ($M)    5-100
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    10

Security National Financial Corp.
52 Sugar Creek Center Blvd., Sugar Land, TX 77479
713-278-7400
[email protected]
Management: Brian De Armas, global commercial director
Hotel Loans    100
Volume ($M)    5B
Loan Range ($M)    1-200
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    50

Sonnenblick-Eichner Co.
449 S. Beverly Dr., Ste. 300, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
310-286-7700
[email protected]
sonneich.com
Management: Elliot Eichner and David Sonnenblick, principals
Hotel Loans    19
Volume ($M)    434
Loans Range ($M)    7-135
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    23

Stonehill
3500 Lenox Rd., Ste. 625, Atlanta, GA 30326
404-497-4111
[email protected]
stonehillsc.com
Management: Mathew Crosswy, president
Hotel Loans    20
Volume ($M)    315
Loans Range ($M)    5-50
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    15

Summit Capital
2385 Camino Vida Roble, Ste. 113, Carlsbad, CA 92103
760-438-9000
[email protected]
summit-capital.net
Management: John Stueber, president
Hotel Loans    n/a
Volume ($M)    n/a
Loans Range ($M)    5-150
Avg. Size of Loans ($M)    10