Lane Hospitality announced it has rebranded as Spire Hospitality and Spire President and CEO spoke with HOTELS Magazine about the new company and plans going forward.

　　Lane Hospitality, now under the ownership of investment firm AWH Partners for about one year, on Tuesday announced it has rebranded as Spire Hospitality, still based in Northbrook, Illinois.

　　Along with the new name comes a plan to aggressively grow its management business, which currently stands at 16 hotels – eight owned by AWH as it finalizes property acquisitions with the Lane family, which exited the business in 2012.

　　Spire President and CEO Bill DeForrest spoke with HOTELS Magazine about the new company and plans going forward.

　　HOTELS: How aggressive will you grow the new management company?

　　DeForrest: I think we will get a lot done. AWH will underwrite effectively and has a real desire to grow the business aggressively. It is working on five to six acquisitions, which could net 15 to 18 hotels as a number of them are portfolio plays. In addition, it is still closing five more deals with the Lane family (AWH acquired Lane Hospitality from the former owner in 2012).

　　At the same time, the former management company signed one new deal 60 days ago – a golf resort in Texas – and took management April 1 with plans to reposition the hotel. We are working on two or three other third-party deals that should come together prior to summer. We are also interviewing for a VP of development to help grow the business.

　　HOTELS: How big will Spire become?

　　DeForrest: We have no specific target, but we do have a significant desire to grow the business. AWH is committed to a platform that will be a major supplier of management and a fairly significant player. I don"t see us getting to be size of Interstate, but I do see us able to do what needs to be done to supply services to owners and investors as good as anyone. We provide more personalized service as part of a slightly smaller platform with the benefits of a larger manager.

　　HOTELS: What is Spire’s sweet spot for management?

　　DeForrest: Working with premium brands is an important part of what we do, and we have added a director of independent hotels in John Price as we see this space, what I refer to as singled-branded assets, as an area to commit resources. We have been very successful with our platform in secondary markets, but the added expertise of AWH will help us go more into primary markets.

　　HOTELS: How has the transition gone over the past year?

　　DeForrest: It has gone well. We went from what was a family-owned business for a long time with a lot of personal relationships that we still value. We transitioned to a new ownership structure, and to understand all the roles and expectations took about six months to work really well together. We had a lot of support from AWH to get through the transition. Now we are spending a lot of time talking about how to operate under the existing platform and what we can do to drive better performance at those hotels, as well as looking at growth platforms and new acquisitions.

　　HOTELS: What is the difference between Lane and Spire?

　　DeForrest: Over the past 5 years, the Lane family had expressed its desire to exit and was in maintenance mode, not looking to add to the portfolio. That shut the acquisition pipeline, and from a management standpoint it was harder to compete for assignments with a company going through transition. It also took longer to make sure Lane found the right buyer for the business. We were confident the platform would be kept together, but the invest community was concerned they would wind up with a team that would be diluted and didn"t want to commit with their assets.

　　Now, everything AWH invests in will be operated by Spire. That is the goal and our desire. A lot of acquisitions will be done and AWH is looking for similar things others are looking for – undercapitalized assets that can benefit from reflagging, new management and repositioning. There could be some new development but it will more likely be deeper redevelopment of assets like our Boca Bridge Hotel project, which is a complete redevelopment. It will be an independent with a planned Thanksgiving rollout, and it will affiliate with one of the global brands.

　　HOTELS: What is the biggest challenge you face?

　　DeForrest: Making sure we have the culture right. The business requires great culture as we ask people to take great care of guests. The Lane platform had the right culture and our ability to bring it with us has been good. But as we grow, we must keep it strong and focus on three things we are adamant about: taking great care of associates, great care of guests and outperforming the market in every market we compete in. It only happens if culture is right.