Investing in a franchise hotel can be a good way to diversify your portfolio and to achieve solid returns over an extended period of time. Finding the right hotel financing options can make this acquisition even more profitable. Comfort letters are designed to provide a legal framework for lenders and franchisors to handle situations in which the hotel purchaser defaults on the loan. Here are some facts ever investor should know about comfort letters.
Comfort letters are documents that allow lenders to assume franchise rights if the original franchisee defaults on the loan. These letters include provisions that ensure that lenders can continue to operate the hotel in the event of default or foreclosure on franchise hotel loans.
Comfort letters offer several benefits for all parties involved in the transaction, including the following:
Many lenders require comfort letters before they will finalize loans for franchise hotel properties.
In most cases, the comfort letter is drawn up by the franchise company as part of the franchising process. These legal documents may follow a standardized template or may be customized to suit the needs of the borrower and the lender. The contents of the letter may include some or all of the following provisions:
These provisions are designed to protect the lender if the hotel financing loan goes into default.
Peachtree Group is a direct lender with a specialty in hospitality lending. Our originators work with investors across the US to provide the most practical hotel financing arrangements for their specific needs. Contact us today to discuss your financial needs with one of our expert loan originators. We work with you to provide the best options for your hotel financing requirements.
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Peachtree Group, a diversified commercial real estate investment company, announced its credit division has closed $556 million in loan originations of the $1.1 billion the company deployed year-to-date. The remaining $526 million was deployed to acquire five hotels and undertake three new hotel development projects. The company also opened five hotels that were under construction as of September 2023.
“Commercial real estate owners who have benefited from an extended period of readily available, low-cost capital over the past 15 years are now confronting a new reality,” said Greg Friedman, Peachtree Group’s CEO.
The ability to refinance maturing debt is a growing concern with an estimated $1.9 trillion of U.S. commercial real estate debt maturing before the end of 2026.
“Commercial real estate participants are faced with the pressures of higher capital costs and tighter liquidity in sourcing capital for acquisition, recapitalizations and development strategies,” Friedman said.
Peachtree Group Credit, formerly Stonehill, ranked as the 8th largest U.S. commercial real estate hotel lender by the Mortgage Bankers Association 2022 loan origination rankings. As a direct commercial real estate lender, it offers permanent loans, bridge loans, mezzanine loans, commercial property-asset clean energy (CPACE) financing and preferred equity investments across all commercial real estate sectors, with its origins in the hospitality industry.
Notable credit transactions for hotels completed this year include:
Other commercial real estate sector transactions included:
Today, banks are under regulatory pressure and need to shore up their balance sheets and liquidity positions, causing significant lending restrictions to commercial real estate. This traditional lender disruption further elevates private credit for owners and developers to execute their business plans.
“We are experiencing an uptick in activity, with more than half of the loans that we originated closing within the past 60 days,” said Jared Schlosser, Peachtree Group’s senior vice president, Credit. “We are targeting more than $1.0 billion in originations for 2023 with continued growth into 2024 as we anticipate interest rates to remain elevated and banks to further reduce exposure.”
Peachtree Group’s acquisition division completed five hotel acquisitions with a total of 677 keys.
“Our transaction volume remains on pace as we have historically acquired 10 to15 hotels annually. The overall U.S. transaction market is down year-over-year, primarily due to 2022 being an active year while debt was still relatively affordable debt a wide availability of regional lenders and improving operating fundamentals whereas in 2023, the tightening of the debt capital markets has materially impacted transaction velocity,” said Brian Waldman, Peachtree Group’s CIO. “We have been uniquely positioned to acquire most of the hotels off-market leveraging our deep relationship network to secure these institutional-quality assets. We are also unique among our competitors as we have the ability to be an all-cash buyer, eliminating lending risk and closing quickly.”
Peachtree Group expects market transactions to accelerate through the remainder of the year and continue into 2024.
Year-to-date, Peachtree Group’s development division has closed on three new projects representing $293 million in aggregate value:
In addition, the development team has opened five hotels with a combined development cost of approximately $119 million:
The development division, which builds hotels on Peachtree Group’s behalf as well as through joint ventures with strategic partners, is expected to break ground prior to year-end on the construction of four more hotels with an aggregate value of $200 million.
CBRE projects new supply growth to average around 1% for the next three years, well below the amount of new supply growth experienced before the COVID-19 pandemic and less than the 2.5% pace of demand growth over the next three years.
“Supply growth of new hotel rooms continues to be hampered by the challenges from the pandemic and has been further impacted today with dislocation in the credit markets,” said Will Woodworth, vice president of investments, development, at Peachtree Group. “We believe supply will continue to be limited for the foreseeable future and have ramped up our development pipeline in response.”
If actual demand growth rates exceed what is forecasted, the hotel market could be facing a hotel room supply shortage. This would fuel the growth in occupancy rates and compression in room rates.
“Despite headwinds in the broader markets, Peachtree is well-positioned, capitalized and oriented to strategically target the submarkets and demand segments where new hotels rooms, when realized, will flourish,” Woodworth said.
About Peachtree Group
Peachtree Group is an investment firm driving growth with a diverse portfolio of commercial real estate assets and other ventures. The company has executed hundreds of investments since its inception, focusing on real estate acquisition, development and lending valued at almost $9.0 billion in total market capitalization. Today, Peachtree manages over $2.5 billion in equity, augmented by services designed to protect, support and grow its investments.