Former AVC and ALH exec Mark Walsh has joined the Queensland team of JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group in the role of vice president as the hotel brokerage firm expands its national Pubs team.
Previously with Spirit Hotels (now known as AVC), Walsh spent three years as state manager overseeing a portfolio of 40 hotels across Queensland. Before that, he spent three years as state operations manager at ALH Group (recently demerged as Endeavour Group).
Walsh said, “There is huge scope for Queensland hotel owners to tap into this growing weight of capital nationally attracted to the pub asset class, and to benefit from this momentum with the right guidance.
“I am thrilled to become a part of the market-leading JLL platform to provide further access for Queensland owners.”
Walsh also spent significant periods of his career in senior executive and operating roles at Delaware North and Federal Hotel Groups, and in UK-based hotel group Regent Inns Walkabout Pub Group.
More recently upon returning to Australia, JLL said, he spent a very successful period as a hotel broker at CRE Brokers based in Brisbane where he transacted several regional hotel sales throughout the challenging Covid lockdown period.
JLL said Walsh’s appointment comes on the back of a phenomenal year of transaction successes, with JLL generating over $1 billion in hotel sales in 2021 alone, despite the challenges presented by Covid.
“Mark’s experience in the sector is quite exemplary and we are so excited to see how his asset class knowledge will translate to real value delivery for JLL clients throughout Queensland,” said John Musca, JLL Hotels managing director, Pubs.
“The hotel investment market has grown to be a sophisticated and high-value transaction sector and there simply is no peer to Mark in Queensland for hotel business knowledge, so this presents as a real opportunity for industry stakeholders to tap into his skills and relationships to benefit their outcomes.”