Kevin Davis to lead debt capital markets for JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group, Americas

NEW YORK, August 17, 2020 – JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group today announced that Kevin Davis has been named a Senior Managing Director of the firm’s Americas Hotels & Hospitality Group reporting to CEO Gilda Perez-Alvarado. Based in New York, Davis will head the debt capital markets efforts for the Americas business and the collaboration between the firm’s Hotels & Hospitality business and JLL’s Capital Markets Group, specifically the loan sales and financing teams.

Davis will continue working closely with the lending community, including banks, life insurance companies, debt funds, mezzanine providers and CMBS lenders, as well as institutional owners of commercial real estate within the hotels and hospitality business. Davis will also continue working closely with the investment sales teams across North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, to ensure the greatest level of connectivity between buyers, sellers and capital funds. 

“There's isn't anyone as accomplished and seasoned as Kevin in this business,” Perez-Alvarado noted. “His impressive track record and experience, along with his client-first attitude, brings tremendous value to the work we do. Going forward we expect a significant portion of our business to derive from the debt and loan sales platform and in anticipation, created this unique role to maximize Kevin’s capabilities while we respond to our clients changing needs. With approximately $2 billion of loan sales currently in the market under his advisory, I look forward to his leadership guiding our clients through these uncertain and unprecedented times.” 

Since joining JLL in 2013, Davis has been involved in excess of $20 billion of financings ranging from ground-up construction projects to stabilized properties. Widely recognized in the industry, Davis recently won the Jack A. Shaffer Financial Advisor of the Year Award at the American Lodging Investment Summit, which honors industry leaders that showcase outstanding ability to foster client relationships and close deals that benefit both parties in a transaction. With immense experience in leading high-profile transactions, Davis has coordinated financings, including the JW Marriott Essex House, the Standard High Line, the One Hotel Central Park, Loews Regency San Francisco, Boca Raton Resort & Club, the Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin, Turtle Bay Resort and the Ritz Carlton St. Thomas.  

“Adapting to a changing investment landscape and our client’s needs is crucial in our current market,” added Mark Gibson, CEO, Americas for JLL Capital Markets. “Kevin’s role spearheading the debt capital efforts for the Hotels & Hospitality Group in close collaboration with JLL Capital Markets loan sales and financing teams marks one more step in our progress towards One JLL and client service collaboration.”

Prior to joining JLL, Davis spent almost a decade as a lender at Merrill Lynch and UBS, where he was involved in sourcing and executing over $7 billion of first mortgage and mezzanine financings for securitization and balance sheets. He also spent three years as a partner and co-founder of FundCore Finance, a high yield lending platform that made opportunistic investments following the financial crisis.

Davis holds a B.A. with Honors in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group has completed more transactions than any other hotels and hospitality real estate advisor over the last five years, totaling $83 billion worldwide. The group’s 350-strong global team in over 20 countries also closed more than 7,350 advisory, valuation and asset management assignments. Our hotel valuation, brokerage, asset management and consultancy services have helped more hotel investors, owners and operators achieve high returns on their assets than any other real estate advisor in the world

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