Colliers International Designates New Leadership for Hotels Group in U.S.

SEATTLE, Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Colliers International today announced Executive Managing Directors Mike Mixer and Dharmesh Patel will lead Colliers International Hotels | USA.  Colliers International Hotels specializes in hospitality real estate investment advisory services.

Created in response to a growing need for commercial real estate and lodging investment services, particularly in the mid-tier segment, Colliers International Hotels provides brokerage services to hospitality owners and investors, financial institutions, funds and REITs. Given the improvement in fundamentals in the hospitality sector, the group's leadership sees this growth trend continuing in the coming year.

Mixer is the managing partner and founder of the Colliers International Las Vegas office, and an expert in the resort and gaming market. Patel, based in the San Francisco Bay area, is an experienced hotel owner-operator with a diverse background in hospitality investment, development, and finance.

"As we looked at expanding our hotel brokerage services, it became evident that we needed strong day-to-day leadership for the group," said Dwight Hotchkiss, Executive Managing Director of Client Services for Colliers International. "We are fortunate that we have within our organization two highly respected professionals in Mike Mixer and Dharmesh Patel, both of whom focus on the hospitality industry. We are excited to have them leading this group and growing it to be an industry leader."

Mixer said in addition to luxury and upscale listings, his team offers a full range of services for independent, economy, midscale and upper midscale properties. "This dynamic economic climate offers quality investment opportunities, and the mid-tier market is a prime space for hospitality investors," Mixer said. "Our team is unique in that we are proficient in all aspects of hotel services, which provides excellent value for investors in this industry."

Patel, a panelist at The Americas Lodging Investment Summit in January, expects transaction volume in the hospitality sector to continue its upward trend as REIT's focus on hotel properties in 2012. "REITs were very active purchasers of hotel product in the early part of 2011 before stocks ultimately dropped thirty to forty percent, causing them to pull back," Patel reports. "However, the hospitality industry is seeing a lot of improvement in occupancy and RevPar numbers, which should ultimately help drive pricing upward and cause stock prices to rise. REITs still have access to capital and will continue to be key players as we enter 2012."

Colliers currently has over 140 hotel specialists worldwide, and provides services in Canada, Europe, Asia and Australia. In the U.S., under the leadership of executive managing directors Mike Mixer and Dharmesh Patel, hotel experts specialize in the acquisition and disposition of hotel and resort properties from full-service hotels, boutique hotels, and suburban limited- and full-service properties.

Additionally, the U.S. service group provides a full range of advisory services including hotel development and management, new hotel operations, and hotel conversion and reconditioning. In collaboration with PKF Hospitality Research (a division of PKF Consulting, an international firm of management consultants) Colliers Hotels offers clients customizable market research and analysis from the industry's only proprietary database of U.S. hotel operating statistics. 

The group has experienced commercial real estate experts and analysts in major and secondary markets across the country, including Miami, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and Las Vegas, with plans to expand into more major markets by the end of 2012.

About Colliers International
Colliers International is the third-largest commercial real estate services company in the world with 12,500 professionals operating out of more than 500 offices in 61 countries. A subsidiary of FirstService Corporation (NASDAQ: FSRV; TSX: FSV and FSV.PR.U), it focuses on accelerating success for its clients by seamlessly providing a full range of services to real estate users, owners and investors worldwide, including global corporate solutions, brokerage, property and asset management, hotel investment sales and consulting, valuation, consulting and appraisal services, mortgage banking and research. Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News magazines ranked Colliers International as the top U.S. real estate company and the latest annual survey by the Lipsey Company ranked Colliers International as the second most recognized commercial real estate brand in the world.

SOURCE Colliers International