Amir Setayesh is the Managing Director of Quadrum Global. Since 2013, Amir has been responsible for all of Quadrum Global’s development projects in sectors such as hospitality, residential and senior living. Amir is responsible for the management of Quadrum’s US personnel and offices and also provides senior leadership oversight for Quadrum’s Arlo Hotel portfolio.

Amir is a development professional with a degree in Construction Management and over 22 years of experience, including effective supervision and management of over a billion dollars in development with Quadrum. He began his career working on high profile development projects in Sydney, Australia from the years 2000-2004. Thereafter, from 2004-2013 and prior to joining Quadrum, Amir worked with an international consulting firm managing and representing owners in development within the hospitality sector throughout the United States' East Coast.

Jon Banister is an East Coast Editor at Bisnow. He has managed Bisnow’s data center coverage since early 2022, and he has managed commercial real estate coverage in the D.C., Boston and Philadelphia markets. From 2016 to 2021 he was Bisnow’s D.C. reporter, during which time he covered the Northern Virginia data center market. He is a board member of the National Association of Real Estate Editors and has won several journalism awards from the organization.

Mr. Amin started his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he advised public and private technology

companies on merger and acquisition transactions and capital markets activities. He currently has overall

responsibility for 75 hotels owned and operated by Shamin Hotels, the largest hotel owner and operator in

the Commonwealth of Virginia. Additionally, Mr. Amin oversees the operations of Shamin’s Assisted Living

and Dementia facilities in Virginia. During his tenure at Shamin Hotels, the company has received numerous

awards and recognitions including the Developer of the Year from Intercontinental Hotels Group and the

Multi-Brand Developer of the Year, and New Build/Adaptive Reuse of the Year from Hilton Hotels. Mr. Amin

has been repeatedly recognized as one of the Fifty Most Influential Virginians by Virginia Business and was

awarded Hilton’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022.

Mr. Amin graduated summa cum laude from The Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania,

completing his B.S. in Economics and MBA. He is passionate about assisting the communities where the

associates of Shamin Hotels live and work and currently serves as the past chairman of the board of

Richmond Region Tourism and serves on the boards of the Community Foundation, the Virginia Museum of

History and Culture, the Virginia Community Development Corporation, Sports Backers, Venture Richmond,

the Virginia Council on Economic Education, and the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority. Additionally, Mr.

Amin serves on the Treasury Board of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Governor’s Advisory Council on

Revenue Estimates at the pleasure of the Governor of Virginia.

Jenna serves as the Vice President of Luxury Hotels and Mixed-Use Development at Marriott International, where she is responsible for growing Marriott’s luxury portfolio of hotel and mixed-use residential properties in the US including Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, Edition, W, and Bulgari Hotels.

Prior to Marriott, Jenna served as the Regional Director for Sonder, where she led a team overseeing growth of hotel properties in the Eastern US and Canada along with driving and implementing real estate strategy for the company. Prior to Sonder, Jenna was the Director of Development for Rock Creek Property Group, a DC-based private-equity firm focused on real estate development, where she directed a broad range of development responsibilities including acquisitions, entitlements, legal, and disposition across a diverse array of asset classes. Jenna practiced law as an attorney at the global law firm, Hogan Lovells, before diving into real estate development.

James (Jim) Tierney is the Senior Vice President of Development and Owner Relations for Hyatt, responsible for the growth of Hyatt’s top-performing select service brands: Hyatt Place, Hyatt House, Caption by Hyatt and Hyatt Studios in North America. Tierney has been instrumental in helping strategically expand the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands into locations where Hyatt’s loyal guests and members are traveling including many new markets for Hyatt such as Montréal, Québec, Panama City Beach, Fla., Sacramento, Calif., Virginia Beach, Va., and more. He also helped launch Hyatt Studios, Hyatt’s first upper midscale extended-stay brand, in April 2023 and just celebrated the inaugural groundbreaking of the first in Mobile AL in November 2023.

Tierney joined Hyatt in 2014 and previously served as Hyatt’s Vice President of Development and Owner Relations where he led a team responsible for the development and growth of the Hyatt Place and Hyatt House brands in the Eastern half of the United States. Prior to joining Hyatt, Tierney served as Director of Development for Cambria Suites at Choice Hotels International.

Tierney earned a B.A. in history from Tufts University and holds a M.B.A. from Babson College Graduate School of Business. He lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife, daughter and black Labrador Penny.

Alex Moeckel is the Regional Vice President of Luxury & Lifestyle Development for IHG Hotels & Resorts based in Washington, D.C. IHG is one of the world’s leading hotel companies offering 19 hotel brands across more than 100 countries within their portfolio. Mr. Moeckel oversees the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions where he is responsible for leading all aspects of the hotel development process for IHG’s Luxury & Lifestyle Brands.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Moeckel was Director of Development for the Mid-Atlantic Region where he was responsible for development growth of IHG’s selective service and extended stay portfolio. Mr. Moeckel first joined IHG 11-years ago as a Development Manager for North America and Latin America, based out of the Atlanta office. In this role, he facilitated and supported IHG-branded real estate development projects totaling over $3B; notably including the 900-room InterContinental Hotel Downtown Los Angeles, the 400-room InterContinental Hotel in San Diego, and the 350-room Hotel Indigo Downtown Los Angeles.

Before joining IHG, Mr. Moeckel served as Director of Development for Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) in New York City, overseeing development and growth initiatives for a portfolio of some of the world’s finest small, independent, luxury hotels. Prior to his time at SLH, Alex worked as an investment analyst on the Hotel Team at Eastdil Secured’s New York City office, a leading real estate investment bank and commercial real estate advisory firm. He began his career in the hospitality industry as a summer intern at the Four Seasons Resort Maui.

Mr. Moeckel graduated from University of Delaware’s Hotel School and currently serves on the Advisory Board of University of Delaware's Hospitality & Sport Business Management School.

John Gerondelis, a Principal of SMALLWOOD, has over 35 years of professional experience in the planning, design and project management of large, mixed-use hospitality, residential and commercial projects. He is well respected in the hotel development community for his ability to create properties that meet time and cost goals, work effectively for the operator, and provide award winning guest experiences. He has over 26 years of experience in international practice, including directing the firm's Singapore office for almost a decade, providing a viewpoint that is informed by worldwide trends.

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, he is a LEED Accredited Professional, a member of the AIA, the IIDA and the Atlanta Hospitality Alliance.

As a valued team member of clients in the real estate and hospitality industries, Rori is able to leverage her understanding of their business concerns and objectives with her deep experience and current market knowledge to navigate her clients from term sheet to closing of complex commercial transactions.

Recently, Rori has been speaking to clients and the real estate community on the uptick in preferred equity transactions, sharing the depth of her experience with both joint ventures and financings and offering guidance on these transactions.

She represents local and national developers, REITs, institutional equity investors, institutional and non-institutional lenders, and hotel owners and operators with their commercial real estate development and finance transactions. These transactions involve a variety of asset types, including mixed-use development, office, retail, hotel, condominium, multifamily and residential and commercial property.

Working with clients across the United States, she assists both borrowers and lenders on financings, and hotel owners and operators on the negotiation of managements and license agreements. Additionally, she partners with clients on real estate acquisitions, dispositions, workouts, and equity and debt participations.

Rori is a frequent speaker and panelist on the hospitality industry and preferred equity transactions.

Relevant Experience

Represented Hersha Hospitality Trust on its sale of seven Manhattan limited-service hotels to a joint venture between Hersha and Cindat Capital Management Ltd., in a transaction valued at $571.4 million. The transaction included senior and mezzanine financing in an aggregate amount of $335 million from Natixis Real Estate Capital LLC and Oaktree Capital Management, L.P.

Represented leading private equity firm in the acquisition of 38 limited service and extended stay hotels, 4,950 rooms, for $590 million, and negotiation of mortgage and mezzanine financing from two major financial institutions and the securitization of the mortgage and a mezzanine tier.

Represented a major insurance company with a preferred equity investment in the construction of a 391-key nationally branded hotel in Chicago, Illinois for total project cost of $113 million.

Represented a major insurance company with a $150 million preferred equity investment in the acquisition and renovation of an office building in Chicago, Illinois.

Represented a major insurance company with a preferred equity investment in the renovation of two well-known Walt Disney World hotels in Orlando, Florida.

Represented a national lending institution with a preferred equity investment in the acquisition and development of a mixed-use property in New York City for a total project cost of $87 million.

Represented a joint venture in the acquisition of a 34-story, one million square foot skyscraper in Boston, Massachusetts for $561 million.

Represented an institutional lender with the $159.5 million mortgage and mezzanine financing of a historic hotel in Washington, DC. The transaction included the sale of one of the floors as an air space parcel to a vacation club and the negotiation of the documents governing the relationship between the hotel and vacation club.

Represented a major insurance company with the upsizing of a $177 million preferred equity interest in a hotel located in the heart of New York City’s Times Square.

Advised Israel Discount Bank of New York with a $31.5 million mortgage loan to Berit Realty LLC, owner of SIXTY hotel 6 Columbus, located at 6 Columbus Circle (308 West 58th Street), New York City.

Representation of an operator in the negotiation of a joint venture agreement for the acquisition and development of a to-be-constructed 128-room Mondrian hotel in the Old City of Istanbul, Turkey.

Representation of an operator in the acquisition, lease and management negotiations with respect to food and beverage operations at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, Nevada, and related documentation and negotiation with respect to Delano, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Representation of a developer in the negotiation of a purchase and sale agreement for the acquisition of a newly constructed 185-room Hyatt Place in New York City (Midtown).

Representation of an owner in the negotiation of management and license agreements for a Crowne Plaza in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Representation of a developer in the negotiation of management and license agreements for a Courtyard by Marriott in College Park, Maryland.

Representation of a joint venture in the negotiation of a $350 million loan secured by the St. Regis in Laguna Beach, California.

Representation of a joint venture in the negotiation of a $201 million loan secured by the Anaheim Hilton in Anaheim, California, and negotiated the joint venture agreement and related documents on behalf of the developer.

Representation of equity in the refinance of a $250 million loan secured by the historic and award-winning Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, in Washington, DC.

Representation of a joint venture in the acquisition and $130 million financing of a 35-acre mixed-use development project (including hotel and branded residences as well as commercial, retail and residential) in Huntington Beach, California, known as Pacific City, and negotiated the joint venture agreement and related documents on behalf of the developer.

Representation of equity in the acquisition of a 20-acre mixed-used development project (including retail, restaurant, hotel, entertainment, commercial, residential, education and civic space) in Miami, Florida, known as Miami Worldcenter, and negotiated the joint venture agreement and related documents on behalf of equity.

Representation of a developer in the $46 million refinance of a GSA leased office building in Washington, DC.

Representation of a developer in the restructure of a $200 million real estate portfolio of undeveloped land, hotels, mixed-use, office and development holdings in California and Texas.

Representation of an equity investor in a $262 million purchase of two office buildings and a development parcel located in Washington, DC.

He focuses on the company’s investment and capital deployment strategies and oversees a real estate portfolio with a market capitalization of approximately $6 billion. He joined Peachtree in 2015 and has contributed significantly to Peachtree's growth and investment performance. Throughout his 20-plus-year career, Brian has had experience investing and managing a broad range of asset and portfolio types. Brian is a graduate of the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, where he completed a dual concentration in Real Estate and Finance. In addition, he serves as a board member for the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities and High Meadows School.

Mike Hollman is an SVP, Treasurer and Head of Strategic Finance at Hilton. In this role, Mike oversees

the Capital Markets, Corporate Finance, Business Development/Innovation and Global Treasury teams.

Mike is responsible for a wide variety of activities and initiatives, including public market offerings,

capital allocation, cash management, business development, start-up/venture investments and M&A.

Prior to becoming Treasurer and Head of Strategic Finance, Mike served as Vice President of Mergers

& Acquisitions and Capital Markets. Mike also serves as the Senior Advisor for Hilton’s Black Team

Resource Group (“BTMRG”).

Before joining Hilton, Mike worked in investment banking, specializing in the real estate and lodging

sectors. He most recently served as a Director of the Real Estate and Lodging Investment Banking

Group at Citigroup, and previously held similar roles at UBS Investment Bank. Mike’s transaction

experience as an investment banker represents over $20 billion of deal volume, including numerous

assignments on mergers and acquisitions, public debt and equity and commercial mortgage-backed

securities (CMBS) financings.

Prior to banking, Mike was a management consultant at Kurt Salmon Associates (KSA), now a part of

Accenture Strategy. At KSA, Mike was responsible for the development and execution of strategic

initiatives and supply chain-related projects for consumer product and retail companies.

Mike currently serves on the Board of Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE: “ADC”), a publicly traded Real

Estate Investment Trust (REIT) and on the Board of a startup technology company in the hospitality

space. Mike is also a Board and Executive Committee member of DC Central Kitchen, a local non-profit

and social enterprise that combats hunger and poverty through job creation and training. Mike received

his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology with honors and his M.B.A.

from The Columbia Business School.

Evens Charles is the founder and managing principal of Frontier Development & Hospitality Group LLC.

A native of Washington, D.C, Mr. Charles attended Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

where he was a Big East Conference Division-I football athlete. During his five-year athletic tenure at

Temple University, he earned a B.A. in Psychology and a Master of Education. Shortly thereafter, at the

age of 25, Mr. Charles was inspired by his landlord to execute his first small transaction that required

an out-of-pocket investment of $1,000 resulting in a $25K profit six months later. Mr. Charles

organically grew over a ten-year period by executing several successful residential and multi-family

acquisition and development projects, then by the age of 36, made his first hotel investment. He has

since grown Frontier to over a $200 million capitalized portfolio of Hilton and Marriot Internationally

branded hotel assets across six states, with another $560 million of urban infill, commercial real estate

development in its pipeline.

Some of his recent accomplishments includes being recognized as the lead developer of DMPED’s 2021

award of the Hill East Bundle II Project, which is 1.2 million square feet of waterfront, mixed-use

development in Washington DC; The 2021 Business of the Year by Prince Georges County Bi-County

Business; 2019 Black Enterprise largest 100 Black Owned Businesses in the nation and the 2019

Outstanding Entrepreneur Award by the Caribbean American Heritage. He has been featured in various

publications including Hotel Business, Lodging Magazine, Black Enterprise & Business Journals across

multiple cities.

He has an endowed scholarship in his name at Temple University targeting underserved students,

supports many philanthropic causes and serves as a mentor to many. He is also a member of Temple

University’s School of Hospitality & Tourism Board of Visitors, member of the Real Estate Executive

Council (REEC), as well as industry organizations such as the National Alliance of African American

Hotel Owners and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association.

Kimberly Wachen is a Partner with the law firm of Arent Fox Schiff and co-chair of AFS’s

hospitality group. Kimberly finds creative solutions to complex problems to benefit her

clients and close transactions efficiently. She is recognized as one of the top real estate

lawyers in the country by Chambers USA, Legal 500, Super Lawyers, American Lawyer,

Washingtonian Magazine and other leading industry publications. She represents hotel

owners on the development, purchase, sale, management, franchising and financing of

hotels and mixed-use projects located throughout the United States. She is particularly

skilled in negotiating joint venture agreements and financing arrangements, including

acquisition, construction and mezzanine loans, and take-out financing, for large real

estate projects. As a result of representing franchisors, hotel owners and hotel

operators, Kimberly is better able to anticipate issues and suggest practical resolutions

of solutions when negotiating hotel transactional documents.

Chirag Shah is the Executive Vice President for Federal and Political Affairs and Counsel at the American Hotel and Lodging Association. In his role, Chirag leads AHLA’s advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and with federal agencies. He also directs the association's national political strategy. He previously served as AHLA's Senior Vice President of Federal Affairs. Prior to joining AHLA, Chirag served as the Vice President for Government Affairs at AAHOA, the nation's largest hotel owners association. During his decade-long tenure working in the lodging industry, Chirag has focused on critical issues facing hoteliers including tax reform, workforce relations, relief from predatory litigation, championing human trafficking prevention, and advocating for economic stimulus in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Chirag previously served as a deputy director and legal advisor at the Republican National Committee, the campaign manager for former Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, and in multiple roles for U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson (SC-02). Chirag earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and his J.D. from the University of Missouri.

Samantha Ahuja, Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's Hospitality Practice, focuses her practice on hotel acquisitions, operations, development and finance, hotel management agreements, licensing agreements, and commercial real estate acquisition and sale.

She advises domestic and international clients on the acquisition and disposition of hotels and other commercial property, hotel management and operations, franchising, licensing and branding, restaurant management agreements, lease negotiations, and casino agreements. She regularly prepares and negotiates purchase and sale agreements, financing and development agreements, and other documents related to the acquisition, financing, development, leasing, management, and disposition of real and personal property with a focus on hotels and resorts.

Samantha regularly works on complex transactions involving a combination of hotels, resorts, condominiums, food and beverage facilities, and other shared access amenities. She also advises her clients on traditional and investor financing, joint ventures and capital and legal structures for complex transactions. She works regularly with her clients on piecing together the various aspects of a deal while taking into balancing the business and legal objectives of the client.

Samantha works closely with her clients to address operational issues that arise over the course of ownership. Most recently, she counsels clients on a wide range of blockchain related matters, from anti-money laundering and know-your-customer best practices for cryptocurrency transactions to legal issues associated with novel uses of blockchain within the hospitality industry.

Samantha also serves as pro bono counsel to many affordable housing cooperatives and tenant associations with the District of Columbia. She works with her clients to find alternative financing, investors or other government grants to maintain long-term housing affordability.