Several real estate and hospitality companies have appointed new leaders to their teams.
Starwood Capital
Real estate private investment firm Starwood Capital Group has hired Jared Melnik as a managing director and head of hotel acquisitions for the Americas. In his new role, Melnik will be responsible for sourcing and executing acquisition opportunities in the hospitality and leisure industries.
"Jared will be an important addition to the Starwood Capital team as we continue to look for attractive investment opportunities in hospitality and leisure, an area where Starwood has always been an industry leader," said Jennifer Barbetta, senior managing director and COO. "Throughout his career, Jared has displayed a talent for identifying compelling investments. He will play a key role as we continue to build on our strong track record for our investors."
Melnik joins Starwood Capital after 15 years at KSL Capital Partners, a travel- and leisure-focused investment manager, where he most recently served as principal and member of the investment committee. In that role, he oversaw equity and debt investments in both hotels and leisure operating companies. Melnik led the implementation of investment strategy and opportunity sourcing, and partnered with portfolio company management to drive operational improvement. Prior to KSL, Melnik was an investment banker at Merrill Lynch.
"As a leader in real estate with a long track record of successful hospitality and leisure investments, joining Starwood Capital represents a unique opportunity to work alongside some of the industry's most talented executives," Melnik said. "I am excited to bring my expertise to the organization and look forward to building on its long-standing success."
Dreamscape Cos.
Real estate development and investment firm Dreamscape Cos. has appointed Scott Broder as its new EVP head of hospitality investments, acquisitions & capital markets.
In this role, Broder will oversee the hospitality group for the firm, working hand-in-hand with the company’s founder and CEO Eric Birnbaum and CIO Tom Ellis based out of New York City.
Before joining Dreamscape, Broder was the head of hotel investments at The Witkoff Group, where he oversaw all aspects of hotel acquisitions, dispositions and asset management. The hotel portfolio at Witkoff included several prominent properties including the Edition West Hollywood and the Park Lane Hotel and Public Hotel in New York City. Before his role at Witkoff, Broder was director of acquisitions at Sunstone Hotel Investors. Over his career, Broder has completed more than $2 billion in hotel transactions, including the acquisitions of Boston Park Plaza, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, and the Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Maui.
“I am thrilled to be joining Dreamscape,” said Broder. “The team has done a phenomenal job securing capital that will allow us to continue to build out and scale our hospitality platform. Our game plan is to be judicious, savvy buyers of hospitality assets.”
Sonesta
Sonesta International Hotels Corp. has appointed Garine Ferejian-Mayo as the company’s new chief commercial officer. In this newly created position, Ferejian-Mayo will drive the execution of Sonesta’s commercial operations while leading the company’s sales, revenue, distribution, call center and field-marketing teams. Ferejian-Mayo will work closely with Sonesta President and CEO Carlos Flores and COO Vera Manoukian to craft the company’s commercial strategy.
Ferejian-Mayo joins Sonesta most recently from IHG, where she served as head of commercial for the company’s core-managed hotels and luxury division. She began her career more than 25 years ago at Interstate Hotels & Resorts and has held several leadership roles at Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Loews Hotels and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
“We are excited to have Garine Ferejian-May join the Sonesta executive team,” Manoukian said. “With our rapid growth, we are exploring a host of new opportunities and as we add hundreds of additional hotels to Sonesta brands. Her wealth of experience, industry expertise, and tenacity will be invaluable to our mission.”