JLL Taps Gilda Perez-Alvarado for Expanded Hotels & Hospitality Role
By Andrew Coen February 19, 2021 2:49 pm
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JLL (JLL) has promoted Gilda Perez-Alvarado to global CEO of its Hotels & Hospitality Group, the company announced Thursday. She succeeds Mark Wynne-Smith, who will continue as JLL’s global CEO of Valuation Advisory.
Perez-Alvarado will proceed in her duties as CEO of JLL’s Americas Hotels & Hospitality Group, a position she has held since September 2018. She will report jointly to JLL’s Global CEO of Capital Markets, Richard Bloxam, and the firm’s Americas Capital Markets CEO, Mark Gibson.
“The lodging industry is poised for a strong rebound and we are optimistic that, with the wider distribution of the vaccine, the industry will come back stronger than ever,” said Perez-Alvarado, who has worked at JLL for 16-and-a-half years. “I’m eager to lead our global team in JLL’s commitment to providing the most consistent advice to clients in what will be some of the most transformative years in the history of the lodging industry and real estate in general.”
Wynne-Smith previously held dual global leadership of both JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality Group and Valuation Advisory business. He will now focus solely on valuation advisory.
In her expanded role, Perez-Alvarado is tasked with driving global strategy for the overall hospitality sector by connecting the business to support cross-regional growth, along with overseeing JLL’s asset management and strategic advisory business lines. Perez-Alvarado will also lead environmental social governance initiatives in hospitality that include commitments to diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability. She will also focus on enhancing the connectivity of the company’s capital markets teams in the Americas, Middle East, Europe, Africa and the Asia Pacific region.
JLL described Perez-Alvarado’s track record of transacting with offshore investors as “unmatched in the industry,” noting international marketing efforts for some of the most iconic hotel assets. Some of the recent deals she has helped spearhead include the St. Regis New York; Montage Beverly Hills; Four Seasons Hotel Toronto; InterContinental New York Barclay; The Standard, High Line; and Mandarin Oriental, Boston.
“We are confident that with Gilda’s successful track record in executing high-profile transactions, and her already prominent global presence, her leadership will leverage our exceptional international footprint and provide next-level strategic partnership with our clients across the world,” Bloxam said in a statement.
In the announcement, JLL noted its 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 global team of more than 350 in over 20 countries also closed more than 7,350 advisory, valuation and asset management assignments during that period.
