Companies Announce Joint Venture to Fuel Growth in Hotel Sector And Set Sights on National Expansion

CHARLESTON, S.C. / BOCA RATON, FL. – May 26, 2022

In tandem with the Aloft Savannah Airport acquisition, the companies also announced the launch of their joint venture, TMGOC Ventures.

“After a few years of successful joint investments and development deals facilitated by The Montford Group. and Opterra Capital offices, we felt this was an opportune time to launch our joint venture,” said Sunju Patel, Founder and CEO of Charleston-based The Montford Group. “We are excited to formalize our union as we look to expand our development and investment opportunities within the hospitality space and build a national portfolio of iconic and value-add properties.”

“We are eager to expand our footprint beyond the Southeast region, and with the breadth of experience we offer as a combined entity, we are confident that we can play nimbly in the resort space, urban city centers, or the extended stay realm,” adds Alba. “And because of our deep, long-standing relationships across the highest levels of the hospitality and capital markets spectrum, we are able to partner with leading global hotel companies and top brands to bring innovative hotel products to under-supplied and high-growth markets.”

Since 2019, The Montford Group. and Opterra Capital have partnered on multiple transactions across the hotel, multifamily and office sectors, totaling more than $700 million in existing and pipeline development assets. Today, the TMGOC Ventures portfolio features 14 hotels under ownership and development predominately on the East Coast in key markets in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, and Georgia, including four ground-up lifestyle and independent hotels that the duo is developing in Charleston – one of the nation’s most dynamic hotel markets and leisure destinations. In 2021, the joint venture closed over $200M in real estate transactions, including the acquisition of five hotel assets in Florida markets with high growth potential.

Patel and Alba will serve as managing partners of the joint venture, strategically guiding its targeted growth across lifestyle, independent, select service and extended stay segments. With a 20-year tenure at Blackstone Real Estate where he led asset management for the firm’s hotel investments in the U.S. and Western Europe, Alba brings an institutional, capital markets mindset to the landscape of hotel acquisitions and development. Patel, a real estate entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in investments, dispositions, acquisitions and both horizontal and vertical development, adds to the TMGOC Ventures equation a visionary, creative approach, and street-smart sensibility to deal-making and new construction developments.

Recent TMGOC Ventures acquisitions and upcoming developments include the 136-key Aloft Jacksonville Airport hotel in Jacksonville, Fla.; the 180-room Hotel Melby, Tapestry Collection by Hilton, in Melbourne, Fla.; the 131-key Moxy Charleston by Marriott, currently under construction and slated to open in late 2022; three other branded and independent lifestyle hotels in Charleston, currently in design and planning; a 208-key branded lifestyle hotel in Charlotte, N.C. expected to break ground in 2022; and a 150-key hotel in Macon, Ga. that will be part of a transformative mixed-used development with residential, retail and entertainment.

TMGOC Ventures is headquartered in Charleston, S.C. and Boca Raton, Fla., with regional offices in Oakland, Calif., and Miami.