INVESTMENT
stage , Kennealey adds , even though a number of the initial assets were acquired at the time they were opening . “ It ’ s more of a developer takeout because we ’ re comfortable taking that ramp up or stabilization risk . But that ’ s probably as far as we ’ re going to go – at least in the near term .”
But Kennealey was quick to add that at some point down the road , being the equity capital in a development deal with an institutional-quality developer with a long track record is a possibility , with Mission Hill being the majority partner .
ADDING VALUE , CREATING BONDS As the new company further develops , it is spending more time on driving value to its limitedservice portfolio , using KSL ’ s bestin-class playbook where appropriate .
Kennealey says he is seeing a fair amount of enhancement opportunities in the F & B arena . They are exploring rooftop bars , bringing even a small offering to pool areas and generally doing more to keep the business and family travelers on property with more conveniences . “ Things like that just make it a little bit easier and give us that edge relative to some of the other hotels in the comp set ,” he says .
By early September , Mission Hill had 11 employees in a new office five minutes away from the KSL office , and Kennealey looks at Mission Hill as a wonderful opportunity for him to help build something from scratch inside his KSL family . “ Having those guys and that level of support and expertise has been invaluable ,” he says . “ KSL is the best at what they do and being able to partner with them in this role has been phenomenal .”
Putting all of this together during a pandemic has been 90 % thrilling and 10 % scary for Kennealey . But by virtue of being connected to KSL , a capital partner that has been investing in hospitality for 30 years , comes some security , as well .
Now the job is to fly safely to look at assets , spend too many hours on Zoom calls and build the team bond under difficult circumstances , which Kennealey says will only serve to increase the cohesion of the team . “ The sense of satisfaction that core group feels about what we ’ ve done here is pretty significant ,” he adds . “ That enthusiasm and camaraderie is something that ’ s attracting new employees , and just making Mission Hill a fun place to work .”
The Element Atlanta Bukhead is one of the original members of the Mission Hill portfolio .
50 hotelsmag . com November / December 2021