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Expert is president of a boutique consulting firm providing advisory services to lenders, owners, investors, public agencies and developers in the Hospitality and Real Estate industries. He has been providing expert witness testimony, damage estimates, market feasibility services, strategic planning analysis, and appraising hotels and other hospitality-related real estate for 30 years. His expertise includes dispute resolution, development planning, deal structuring, workouts, and financial issues related to hotel development and investment.

Expert has been restructuring loans and other agreements, working out troubled hotel assets, resolving disputes, and providing property valuation, market demand assessment, investment analysis and other acquisition and development advisory services to clients nationwide. He has been the financial advisor to the National Park Service since 1992, working on more than 35 National Park concession contracts, including Yosemite and Yellowstone.

Expert’s valuation qualifications and expertise have resulted in many unique assignments, such as a recent one involving appraising the Grand Canyon, for which he was awarded the coveted James Felt Creative Counseling Award in 2000. He has been trained as an arbitrator and certified by NASD Dispute Resolution, and has testified as an expert witness on dozens of occasions, in venues ranging from jury trials to arbitration panels to Federal Bankruptcy Court.

Additionally, Expert has provided assistance to hotel lenders, owners and landlords in the areas of negotiating financing arrangements, loan documents, management contracts, franchise agreements, ground leases, development agreements, partnership agreements and bankruptcy reorganization plans.

Expert was involved in the structuring and negotiation of a development agreement and ground and building lease with the selected developer at Ft. Baker in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Since 1999, he was involved with the preparation of the RFP, solicitation and identification of qualified private sector firms, preparation of the financial feasibility analysis of the proposed project, evaluation of the financial portions of the responses to the RFP, selection of the development team, and even restructured the lease to accommodate lender requirements. The NPS leases numerous historic Army buildings, which have been converted into use as a high-end conference center with restaurants, retail, and recreational land uses. The renovated hotel, called Cavallo Point, opened in mid-2008.He was extensively involved in the successful effort to convert the Haslett Warehouse in the Fisherman’s Wharf area of San Francisco into a high-end hotel and restaurant. Beginning in 1998, Expert evaluated the financial portions of the responses to the RFP, assisted in the selection of Kimpton Hotels as the developer, and actively assisted in the lease negotiations. The 260-room Argonaut Hotel opened in August of 2003, and provides substantial lease revenues to the Maritime Museum unit of the Golden Gate Park. Since its opening, he has been retained by the NPS to assist with refinancings, transfer of the leasehold, re-setting of rents, lease amendments, and other financial and hospitality issues.Expert was the City of San Diego’s leasing advisor, expert witness, deal structurer, and appraiser in several projects from 1999-2006. He assisted the Director of Real Estate Assets in crafting creative ground leases and development agreements to facilitate substantial private sector investment in new and renovated commercial structures. Projects to date include the $75 million Lodge at Torrey Pines, $50 million renovation at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay, $50 million enhancement of rides at Sea World, and several other hotel and visitor-serving leaseholds.