PKF CAPITAL HOTEL BROKERAGE UNIT TO SERVE THE U.S. SOUTH ATLANTIC AND CARIBBEAN MIAMI, Florida, February 17, 2009 – Bucking a hotel industry downtrend, PKF Capital is expanding, this time into the U.S. South Atlantic and the Caribbean. The brokerage firm is offering transactional and investment advisory services to the hotel and resort community in a region it calls “one of the world’s greatest travel destinations.” “We know the falloff in business we’re seeing in the South Atlantic is temporary,” says PKF Capital Executive Managing Director Bob Eaton. “We’re positioning our firm in this region because, when the travel business comes back strong, we will have the talent on the ground to provide the kind of services PKF is known for throughout the country for almost a century.” Heading up PKF Capital’s Miami-based operation will be two of the South Atlantic’s most seasoned hotel and resort investment sales brokers: Richard Lillis and Kent Schwarz, both just named senior managing directors of PKF Capital. Both brokers have international experience. Lillis served as managing director of Horwath HTL’s Miami office since 2001. Prior to that, he managed Ocwen Financial’s commercial REO portfolio as well as managing hotels with New Castle Hotels, Doral Hotels and Resorts and Marriott International. Schwarz is a Hilton veteran whose 30 years of hotel and resort experience includes 15 years of handling transactions with a New York-based international hospitality investment firm. Both men have conducted dozens of transactions for the major hotel and resort brands and many independent properties. About his Florida brokerage team, Eaton said: “We are excited to expand PKF Capital’s market footprint to the South Atlantic and integrate this operation with our consulting and hospitality research divisions.” Lillis said, “Many Caribbean destinations are challenged by recession-related slack demand. Additionally, the global credit crisis has slowed transaction and development activities. Nevertheless, we believe the regional dynamics are sound, and quality projects will continue to attract ample equity and debt from new as well as existing sources. We are pleased to be able to assist the hotel and resort investment community during this time of flux.” Schwarz said, “It is important to remember that Florida is a very vibrant hotel market, but like all markets, it is not immune to economic cycles. Certainly we are experiencing declining RevPAR; however, Florida’s overall RevPAR performance has historically been about 30 percent above the national average. Even with this downturn Florida is still expected to perform well above the national average. Yes, there will be notable challenges for many owners and lenders, but those very challenges create buying opportunities for new investors.” Eaton explained, “Our plans for Florida and the South Atlantic are driven by our desire to become a true national platform. Florida is obviously a big national market, and we believe that we can be a player there in a transaction market that has been crushed by lack of credit and overbuilding.” He added, “Our sister company, Cohen Financial, has been actively involved in the real estate and finance industry of Florida. We’ll be serving clients seamlessly from the same office.” Anticipating recovery in the hotel sector, Eaton predicts that there is a lot of “stress in the markets” that will soon lead to numerous transactions that have been pent up since the credit crunch began in late 2007. “At PKF we have solutions to offer owners across our platform that includes hospitality research, consulting, financial advisory services and brokerage.” PKF Capital brokerage services’ seven offices span the country from Seattle to Miami. Further East Coast expansion is being considered. # # # |