New York Hotel & Hospitality Event

Mr. Dandapani is a hotel industry veteran who cofounded Apple Core Hotels, an owner-operator of boutique hotels in Manhattan in 1993 and was president of the company till December 2016. He was appointed President and Chief Executive officer of the Hotel Association in January 2017. He is an active participant in the hospitality industry and has spoken on hospitality issues at many forums sponsored by organizations such as the Lodging Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, the ALIS conference, University of California at Los Angeles, Columbia University, New York University and the National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives. In 1998, he was recognized by Crain’s New York Business as one of the top 100 minority business leaders in New York City. In 2002, the Asian American Business Development Center, New York selected him as one of 50 Outstanding Asian Americans in Business. He has written in a number of industry publications and the mainstream media on topics affecting the hotel industry. As a Part of New York's response to the COVID crisis, Mr. Dandapani has been appointed by Mayor de Blasio to the COVID-19 Arts, Culture and Tourism Sector Advisory Council. He was also appointed by Governor Cuomo to the “New York Forward Advisory Board” tasked with guiding the state’s reopening strategy in the aftermath of the Covid 19 crisis. Mr. Dandapani has a Master’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and is a winner of the Aga Khan Foundation Scholar for graduate studies. He also holds the CHAE certification from HFTP.

Matthew Janukowicz is a Managing Director at Moelis & Company, where he provides strategic and financial advice to Real Estate, Gaming, Lodging & Leisure (REGLL) clients, with a focus on the hospitality and leisure sector. Matt has over 15 years of investment banking and advisory experience, with expertise in executing a range of transactions throughout the corporate lifecycle, including M&A, restructurings, and capital raises for public and private companies. Prior to joining Moelis & Company, Matt was a member of the Valuation Advisory practice at Duff & Phelps. He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida and received an MBA (with Honors) from The Stern School of Business at New York University.

Chip Ohlsson is executive vice president and chief development officer, North America, for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, the world’s largest hotel-franchising company. In this role, he is responsible for the development strategy for Wyndham’s 22 brands across North America, identifying and building strategic partnerships to position Wyndham in new markets and increase presence in existing markets. Ohlsson is also responsible for strengthening and expanding relationships with owners and key ownership groups including real-estate investment trusts, developers and financial institutions with hospitality portfolios. Wyndham Hotels & Resorts partners with owners to provide powerful marketing and sales programs to drive reservations to hotels while the company’s competitive online travel agencies and supplier pricing reduces costs for hotel owners. A 30-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Ohlsson brings with him hotel financing and portfolio management experience, as well as many established industry relationships. Ohlsson, previously served as vice president of North American development at Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Prior to this, Ohlsson held several leadership positions across the industry including senior vice president, vice president and franchise sales director with Cendant/Wyndham. During this time he oversaw sales, business development and financial management initiatives and was consistently a top sales producer, earning accolades including Vice President of the Year.

Based in MA’s New Orleans Office, Executive Director Ian Mills, AIA, oversees the design and delivery of many of the firm’s hospitality projects. He is currently overseeing the architectural and interior design of a Four Seasons Hotel & Residences in Charleston and the architectural design of a St. Regis Hotel & Residences in Nashville. Ian also recently oversaw the delivery of two projects within the Water Street District in Tampa: The EDITION Hotel & Residence—Tampa Bay’s first five-star hotel—and the adjacent 788,000-sf Asher / ROOST Tampa building, operated by Method Hospitality. Also in Florida, Ian was responsible for the delivery of The Goodtime Hotel within the Miami Beach Art Deco Historic District. Back in New Orleans, he is overseeing the delivery of a unique hospitality development involving the adaptive reuse of a historic Beaux Arts bank building.

Christy Reuter focuses her real estate practice on domestic and global hospitality transactions, notably representing hospitality companies seeking to expand within the United States and in countries around the world. She has negotiated deals in cities throughout the United States and in various countries and cities, including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Japan, Turkey, Monaco, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Hong Kong. Christy provides strategic legal and business counsel to clients at every stage of a transaction. She regularly guides clients through the material business and legal issues in complex transactions, including commercial leasing, joint venture negotiations, operating or shareholder agreements, and license and management agreements. Prior to joining Blank Rome, Christy served as the chair of the hotel & hospitality group of a New York City-based firm, and as general counsel for the internationally acclaimed hospitality group Cipriani. She also previously served as the Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York in the NYC Litigation Bureau (1995–1997).

Mr. Bhoopathy is a managing principal and head of capital markets responsible for debt relationships, asset dispositions, and transaction management. In addition, he leads contract documentation and closings related to new acquisitions, development, and financing for all investments. Mr. Bhoopathy has more than 23 years of hospitality industry experience and has participated in more than $4.5 billion worth of real estate transactions for the Noble organization since joining the firm in 1999. He became a partner in 2006 and is a regular panelist at lodging, investment, and financing conferences. Mr. Bhoopathy earned a BS from the Cornell University School of Hospitality and is a past-president of the Cornell Georgia Chapter and the Atlanta Hospitality Alliance. He is also a member of the Atlanta Capital Markets Council for the Urban Land Institute.

Adam B. Etra founded Newmark’s Lodging Capital Markets Group upon joining the company in 2018. As the co-head of the group, Mr. Etra provides oversight of Newmark’s lodging practice and advises companies on the disposition, financing and recapitalization of lodging and leisure assets (and companies) throughout North America. He also provides advisory services for large corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, and other corporate deals. Within the lodging space, Mr. Etra has a diverse range of experience that includes full and select service hotels, resorts, gaming/casinos, golf/club programs and mixed-use assets. Prior to joining Newmark, Mr. Etra was a Managing Director at Eastdil Secured, where he helped oversee the lodging practice. He previously worked as an attorney in the real estate group of the law firm Hughes, Hubbard & Reed. Over his career, Mr. Etra has been involved in lodging transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $100 billion, including over $45 billion since joining Newmark. His diverse client roster includes private equity funds, hedge funds, public REITs, family offices, private real estate investors, institutional investors, hotel owner/operators and hotel brands. Mr. Etra earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University Law School. He currently lives in Scarsdale, New York, with his wife and two children.

David C. Wilkes is an attorney and frequent national public speaker with over two decades of experience concentrated in property taxation, land value disputes, advising local New York State governments, managing property taxes for national and global portfolios, and advising economically- developing nations in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa on the design of property tax and rights legislation and infrastructure. He is quoted in and interviewed regularly for national publications such as Bloomberg Tax, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Bisnow, and local media on real estate matters. David was also lead Counsel of Record on the Amicus Brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the matter of Tyler v. Hennpin County, challenging property tax forfeiture laws, which has received significant national attention. David is Partner in the Corporate Department of the law firm of Cullen and Dykman, LLP, which has a distinguished history dating to 1850. He was selected as the sole educator on property tax law for the Justices and Court Attorneys of the NYS Supreme Court’s Appellate Division. He is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) Economic Development Committee, and a member of the State and Local Taxation Committee of the New York City Bar Association. David is a Director of the International Property Tax Institute and co-founder and President of the National Association of Property Tax Attorneys (NAPTA). He is a former Chairman of The Appraisal Foundation, the source of appraisal standards for the U.S. (USPAP) designated by Congress. He is also the founder of BroadTree Advisors, which partners with major national valuers to focus on the nexus between valuation and law. David has served as Senior Legal Advisor to the Republic of Egypt and the Serbian Government on homeowner financing and property tax projects. He was Editor-in-Chief of the New York State Bar Association’s flagship magazine, the “Journal”, for 14 years, with a readership of 74,000 lawyers and judges, and was Editor-in-Chief of “Real Estate Review” (New York University) for seven years. He also served as Contributing Editor for the American Alpine Journal. He is a designated “Counselor of Real Estate” (“CRE”) and a Fellow of the London-based “RICS”, the largest organization of property advisors in the world, where he was an elected member of its International Governing Council representing the United States, and was Chair of the Americas Valuation Council. David received the 2003 International Association of Assessing Officers’ Distinguished Real Estate Research and Development Award; the Counselors of Real Estate’s Ballard Award for Best Article of 2005; and the 2008 APEX Award for Property Tax Reform from the Westchester County Association. He is currently the Chairman of the Westchester County Bar Association’s Tax Certiorari and Condemnation Committee. Locally, David sits on the Board of Directors of the Mohonk Preserve and has served as a member of Mohonk’s Land Protection Committee for many years and is a Life Member of the Preserve. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress, and David is the President of Roost Studios, Inc., a New Paltz not-for-profit community arts organization that was recognized as Best Art Gallery of the Hudson Valley in 2020 by Hudson Valley Magazine. David also served as President of the Dutchess County Community Action Agency.