Provenance Promotes Howard Jacobs and Bashar Wali

President & CEO, and EVP & CDO Respectively

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. October 14, 2008

PORTLAND, OR, October 7, 2008. Provenance Hotels is pleased to announce two promotions in senior positions at the corporate level: Howard Jacobs has been elevated to President and Chief Operating Officer and Bashar Wali has been elevated to Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer. The promotions come at a key time in the company's growth when solid development and success have been proven and expansion is quickly on the horizon.

"Our company goal is to remain competitive in our markets with top people in the industry," said Gordon Sondland, Chief Executive Officer of Provenance Hotels. "Howard Jacobs and Bashar Wali are highly qualified professionals and have been instrumental in Provenance's success managing and operating five hotels with more in the pipeline."

Howard Jacobs, Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to President of Provenance Hotels leading all operations for the company's owned and managed assets, and asset managing all other properties owned by the company. In addition, new responsibilities include oversight on acquisition, development, strategic planning and system integration.

With an extensive hospitality background for companies such as Hyatt Hotels, Hilton, Kimpton Hotels and R.R. Donnelley, Jacobs launched Provenance with its core investment partners in 2001 and was elevated to Chief Operating Officer in 2003.

Bashar Wali, formerly Director of Acquisitions and Development, has been promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer overseeing strategic initiatives, acquisitions and development, deal analysis and projections, capital deployment, financing and lending, tenant relations, lease negotiations, non-hospitality activities, such as retail, and overall real estate activity.

Wali brings more than 16 years of experience to his new role at Provenance. Most recently, he served as Vice President of Grand Heritage Hotels overseeing expansion and capital deployment efforts in North America.

Prior to Grand Heritage, Wali held a variety of management and executive positions at Wyndham International and at The Flatley Company.

Provenance Hotels focuses on urban full-service hotels between 100 and 400 rooms. It is actively looking to acquire additional assets primarily in the Western United States and Western Canada as an outright purchase or a joint venture with existing owners. It is also keenly interested in specific key suburban or airport locations that are currently branded or underperforming. With its expertise in developing a story around the arts, the company finds properties that it can de-flag and re-brand completely.

Provenance Hotels currently owns and operates five hotels: Hotel Lucia in Portland, Ore. (Conde Nast Traveler's Top Hotels in the World), opened in 2002; Hotel deLuxe in Portland, Ore.(Cond'e Nast Traveler's Gold List), recently opened in 2006; Hotel Max in Seattle, Wash. (honored with multiple design awards), opened in 2005; Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Wash. (honored with multiple design awards), opened in 2008; and Hotel Preston in Nashville, Tenn., opened in 2003.