EW #7535's depth of experience in hotel and timesharing real estate, operations and finance provide the background for Straightline assignments.

Before founding Straightline, he was Managing Director of Bristlecone Hotel Partners LLC , which was a management and advisory firm with a portfolio of thirteen hotels under asset management to institutional owners and lenders. Bristlecone's hotels consisted of two Ritz Carltons, nine Embassy Suites, a Hilton International, and an independent conference center resort. Additional services of Bristlecone included hotel advisory services.

Prior to Bristlecone, he was Principal of The Determinant Group , an advisory firm offering services to the hospitality and timeshare industries in business plan development, property repositioning and organizational restructuring, and on general real estate and financing issues.

Previously, he spent seven years as Director of Real Estate Administration for Hilton Hotels Corporation in its World Headquarters in Beverly Hills. Before that he was Vice President/Operations and, later, Chief Financial Officer for Conect Hospitality Systems in San Francisco. He also has had career experience with Amfac Hotels & Resorts (Hawaii and Mainland) and Westin Hotels & Resorts . His Amfac and Westin responsibilities were in operations, finance and real estate development.

EW #7535 received his MBA in Finance from the Bloch School of Business & Public Administration at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and his BS in Hotel Administration from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where he was named "Hotelier of the Year". He is a Registered Resort Professional (American Resort Development Association), a Master Hotel Supplier (American Hotel & Lodging Association), and a Licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of California. He has been active in ARDA, AH&LA, and the Urban Land Institute, including membership on various committees and having published articles in trade magazines. He is also an Adjunct Professor in Strategic Planning in the Graduate School at the University of Phoenix.

Bio Addendum
ENGAGED PROJECTS (Partial List):

• Master Planning and financing for a proposed $100 million redevelopment of an historic Hawaiian outer island resort (232 timeshare units + 20 hotel cottages).
  
  
• Preparation of a Business Plan and Plan of Financing for development of a national system of fitness, spa and entertainment membership clubs (90,000 sf prototypes).
  
  
• Development of financing packages on behalf of a New York investment bank for two separate real estate portfolios consisting of twenty-nine hospitality properties, in total valued at about $840 million.
  
  
• Forecasting and valuation exercise for a Texas opportunity fund seeking to better understand the portfolio value for their seventeen owned hotels (about $340 million).
  
  
• Prepared detailed Plan of Financing and Rollout Scenario for a new venture seeking to acquire a dominant national position in hunting and fishing lodges and in guest ranches.
  
  
• Expert witness representing the lender in a case of litigation involving the economic viability of a plan to convert and expand an Anaheim resort hotel into a mixed use timeshare resort development.
  
  
• Expert witness for plaintiff where damages of $163 million were sought for alleged failure of defendent to deliver on a loan commitment for plaintiff's purchase of an 850-room hotel/casino and where defendent subsequently acquired and flipped the property for his own gain.
  
  
• Prepared Project Economic Study for new 204-room, $113 million, 5-star hotel in Beverly Hills.
  
  
• Expert witness for defense in an instance of litigation where plaintiffs sought $115 million in damages for defendant's failure to proceed with conversion of 145-unit bayside apartment complex into a fractional development.

• Preparation of Business Plan and Plan of Financing for consulting developer to a Louisiana Indian tribe seeking to develop a $45 million hotel and golf facility adjacent to their highly successful casino.
  
  
• Advisor to a well-known developer and operator of boutique hotels. Formulated a development program for a new national hospitality product line.
  
  
• Business Plan development for entry into timesharing business line by one of the world's largest hotel companies.
  
  
• Engaged to provide an “American Critique” of a plan by a $40 billion Japanese conglomerate to enter the Japanese timeshare market, both as a developer and as an interval exchange company.
  

• Rework of the timesharing program for a $440 million destination resort in the Netherlands Antilles. Responsibility for problem resolution in all aspects of the program, including product definition, pricing, operations, and sales & marketing. Defacto Project Director.
  

• Strategic Advisor to county harbor district concerning lessee performance as hotel operator and the economics of its proposal to convert a portion of its underperforming hotel into a limited service lodging property.
  
  
• Forensic study into complex assignment of ownership interests in a California hotel to a REIT with impact upon continuing validity of city-granted transient occupancy tax credit.
  
  
• Prepared feasibility study for a conference hotel on a high profile Orange County coastal site on behalf of major developer. Formal presentations before Planning Commission and City Council.
  
  
• Engaged by plaintiff as expert witness in case against a state parks department for its alleged failure to honor a signed lease which allowed development of resort cabins and related amenities within eight state parks. Testified as to viability of Plan of Financing and calculation of economic damages.
  
  
• Expert witness at trial on behalf of county department of aviation concerning viability of a proposed high-rise timeshare resort on parcel where county had imposed development height restrictions.
  
  
• Consultant to French government real property disposition arm regarding forensic interpretaion and business rationality of legal agreements which defined various parties interests in a well-known New York City hotel.

• Consultant to various Wall Street advisory firms, venture capital firms, and hedge funds concerning key players in the hospitality industry, their operating and financial performance, and their future prospects. [Multiple recurring engagements]
  
  
• Senior member of a due diligence team for a newly formed timeshare company, which acquired three Mexican resort properties for $231 million, flipped the hotel portions to a REIT, while retaining the timeshare components for themselves.
  
  
• Pursued parties of interest in prospective acquisition of four timeshare resorts and their associated mortgage receivables as part of a plan to allow the bank to reduce its exposure in a major industry bankruptcy. Bank’s immediate exposure was $76 million.
  

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CLIENT LIST (Partial):

Bank of America, San Francisco
Brahman Capital Corporation, New York
Burke, Williams & Sorenson LLP, Los Angeles
Cardinal Investment Company, New York
Carpenters Pension Fund, Los Angeles
Channel Islands Harbor, County of Ventura, California
Chequers Investment Partners, Houston
City of El Segundo, California
Coatue Investments, New York
Department of Aviation, County of Clark, Las Vegas
Eastdil Realty, Inc., Dallas & New York
Economics Research Associates, Los Angeles
FTP Consulting, Los Angeles
Galaxy Southbrook Holdings LLC, Beverly Hills
The Galleon Group, New York
Gerson Lehrman Group, New York
Gracie Capital LP, New York
Groupe GMF, Paris
Headlands Reserve LLC, Dana Point
The Heritage Organization, Dallas
International Bay Clubs, Inc., Newport Beach
ITT Sheraton Corporation, Boston
Jones Vargas Law Firm, Las Vegas
Kicap Management, New York
Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, Inc., San Francisco
Kingdon Capital Management LLC, New York
KPMG LLP, Los Angeles
Lewis & Roca Law Firm, Phoenix
Lifestyle Center of America, Sulfur, Oklahoma
Lincoln Consulting Group LLC, Newport Beach
Lowe Enterprises,Inc., Los Angeles
The Lusk Company, Irvine
Lynn, Tillotson LLP, Dallas
Manchester Resorts, San Diego
Mido Resorts, Tokyo
MPTV, Inc., Newport Beach
National Golf Corporation, Santa Monica
Olympic Holding Corporation, Beverly Hills
Paradigm Hospitality LLC, Los Angeles
Pinto & Dubia LLP, Irvine
PrimeLodge LLC, West Yellowstone
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Los Angeles & San Francisco
Raintree Resorts International, Inc., Houston
Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, Inc., Dallas
Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay, P.C., Dallas
Southern California Pipe Trades Administration Corp., Los Angeles
Standard Pacific Consulting, Ltd., Sydney
Tokyu Corporation, Tokyo
Trust Company of the West, Los Angeles
UBS Global Asset Management, Chicago
Vezina, Lawrence & Piscitelli, P.A., Fort Lauderdale
Victory Development Group, Houston
Vision Quest, Inc., Los Angeles
Vista Research, New York