Masters of Moments #24: Mehul Patel - CEO of NewcrestImage
NewcrestImage is a privately held family office investment firm based in Dallas, Texas, with an extensive portfolio of diversified real estate assets and alternative investments. They've conducted 277 hotel transactions and $2.7 billion in real estate transactions across 148 cities.
Mehul's start in the hotel business came when he and his family moved to Garland, Texas, from India when he was 13. From 1990 to 1993 he and his family worked and lived in a hotel-his parents as room attendants and Patel and his brother as everything from front-desk clerks to landscapers.
On this episode, Mehul and Jake discuss:
- NewcrestImages's process for purchasing portfolios
- How they raise capital
- Knowing which deals to pursue and stay away from
- How and why they purchased a bank
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Links:
Topics:
(00:00:00) Mehul’s journey into hospitality
(00:13:05) Buying a portfolio of hotels from Blackstone
(00:15:14) Is there less risk in buying a portfolio vs. one-off assets?
(00:20:24) How do you raise capital in a portfolio acquisition?
(00:23:27) Who on your team leads an acquisition and what are you most focused on in diligence?
(00:27:38) What are you doing on an asset management level that the larger organizations aren’t?
(00:33:51) What type of deals do you know to stay away from?
(00:35:12) Why have you found Ground Lease to be painful?
(00:41:13) What is the biggest opportunity you’re seeing today?
(00:47:10) How do you think about ROI in the renovations you’re doing?
(00:52:59) Is there one asset class you’ll lean into over the next cycle?
(01:00:57) How do you reconcile that the real estate is more valuable than the building itself?
(01:03:56) A walkthrough of an acquisition
(01:13:09) Are there any never-sell assets in your portfolio?
(01:14:12) Buying a bank
(01:23:16) What’s your favorite hotel?