Hospitality & Leisure

As the world’s leading hospitality and leisure companies face an evolving market paired with increasing competition, the stakes have never been higher. Goodwin’s Hospitality & Leisure team assists stakeholders involved in the acquisition, disposition, financing, development, formation and operations of hotels, resorts, and branded residential projects around the world. We have particular expertise helping clients navigate the challenges presented by diverse legal systems, cultures, conventions, and languages — all while capitalizing on any and all opportunities, across all asset types.

Having spent years working side-by-side with some of the most recognized names in the global hospitality sector, our team truly understands the strategic, financial, and operational matters our clients care about, which enables us to go beyond pure technical advice and provide market-based solutions that help optimize a project’s performance for meeting commercial goals while limiting risks associated with a transient operating business. This includes advising on:

• Ground-up development
• Conversion and adaptive re-use projects
• Single-asset and portfolio acquisitions and dispositions
• Joint ventures
• Debt and equity financings for hotel, branded residential and other hospitality mixed-use projects
• Hotel management agreements, franchise agreements, and strategic alliances
• Formation of investment funds targeting hotels
• Retail leasing and food and beverage operations agreements
• Complex structuring relating to REITs and investments by tax-exempt entities
• Startups and new platform and venture capital raising
• Hospitality company IPOs and M&A transactions
• Litigation and dispute resolution matters
• Employment matters, including union matters
• The full range of management, operations, governance and branding matters in complex mixed-use hospitality projects

We harness our collective expertise throughout legal disciplines, including our Employment, Data, Privacy & Cybersecurity, Intellectual Property, Real Estate Tax, ERISA & Executive Compensation, Securities Litigation & SEC Enforcement, Real Estate Design & Construction, Leasing, Real Estate Joint Ventures, Financial Restructuring and Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution practices, to support our clients’ growth objectives for a wide range of hospitality and leisure assets, including:

• Urban hotels and mixed-use hospitality projects
• Destination resorts
• Branded, serviced, and mixed-use residential developments
• Restaurants and other F&B outlets
• Outdoor lodging and adventure oriented projects
• Select service, including niche-market investments such as college and university-focused hotels
• Entertainment destination centers
• Wineries and breweries
• Golf courses and tennis clubs
• Marinas

Connect with our Hospitality & Leisure team and let us know how we can help.