Stewarding Capital for Impact - Michael Hraba, Partner at Waterford Hotels & Inns

Speaker 1: Could hospitality be not only a great way to spend your career, but a good way to steward capital? Today, the person behind some of the most iconic hotel projects in California shares his perspective. This is Hospitality Dealey, the show that helps you stay informed and inspired each day by the most interesting people in hospitality. My name is Josiah McKenzie and my goal is to help you reconnect with why you work in this industry and get fired up to go out there, delight others and reach your goals. Let's get started. This show is not investment advice. It's about hospitality as a way to delight the people around you. But the reality is it takes capital to bring hospitality experiences to life. We heard this from Vir La Donders in a recent episode, talking about bringing the Zoku brand to life in the Netherlands.

Speaker 2: From the location would be like, well, who's your investor? And the investors would be like, well, do you have a location? So we were running around for a good one and a half years trying to get over this first hurdle And eventually we found like a small group of family offices investors that together really said, okay, we believe in you.

Speaker 1: I'm in New York now for the NYU Hospitality Investment Conference and thinking a lot about the role of capital in enabling great hospitality, and want to share with you something Michael Haraba told me recently that shaped my view on this. Michael is a partner at Waterford Hotels and Inns and Rens Operations for the company's portfolio of properties. And here he is with some things to think about as you talk to investors and think about stewarding your own capital.

Speaker 3: I think wealth gets a bad rap because a lot of people with wealth it's people without wealth think they have money, But people with wealth look at it as capital and how they move capital around. And now it's not just not everyone, but it's not just the end goal of how much more capital can I make with my capital. It's how does my capital affect the world, communities, the environment, the society and culture as I move it around?

Speaker 1: You think about stewarding capital, maybe hospitality is one of the best uses for it because, if done well, it can achieve sustainability, it can build empathy, it can create jobs, it can enhance communities.

Speaker 3: It revitalizes communities and it brings it back to life. And that's very specifically from a historic perspective That if you go online and search historic hotel revitalization or just go to savingplacesorg, they have a list. If you go, look Detroit, sierra Nevada, goldmining Town, all over historic hotels are brought back to life with people with capital that are like, yeah, i could build something new or I could make a boring investment and put this money in a mutual fund or an end. And they're not. They're moving capital around as wealthy people in a way that moves the needle and makes a difference. And I have so much respect for the group Equity Community Builders who did Cavallo Point, ecb and really Tom Sargent And he's done redevelopment processes that really really enhance communities or bring back stuff.

Speaker 1: I really enjoyed talking to Michael and hearing the stories behind some of the projects that he's been involved in in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I'd love to hear your story as well. If you have a story of using capital to revitalize communities, to create jobs, to enhance your neighborhood or community, i'd love to hear about it. Go to podcasthospitalitydealycom and let me know there. I would love to hear your story.