Savills LLC, the New York-based real estate investment banking arm of international real estate advisor Savills PLC, has created an advisory unit designed to assist clients on value-added opportunities within the hospitality, leisure, gaming and timeshare property markets.
The new unit will be led by industry veteran David Gutstadt, who spent more than 10 years at Goldman Sachs, where he was most recently charged with acquiring hotel and gaming properties for the Whitehall Street Real Estate Fund.
"These are extremely trying times for the hospitality, leisure and gaming segments of the commercial real estate market," says John D. Lyons, president and CEO of Savills. "But it's also an opportunistic moment for Savills to recruit the most talented industry executives like David Gutstadt and Kenneth Spears. Our clients will immediately benefit from their presence, and we expect to expand our team even more over the next few months."
The new unit will focus on owners of hotels, casinos, timeshare developments and golf courses, among other leisure-related properties. The unit will advise on a range of complex and increasingly common issues arising within this segment of the real estate market that includes property sales, debt restructuring, and mergers and acquisitions.
SOURCE: Savills LLC
