Belinda O’Kelly brings a decade of experience, a comprehensive skill set and dedicated design focus to O’Kelly + Kasprak. She is a licensed architect in Illinois, as well as a LEED accredited professional with a specialty in building design and construction.
David Kasprak has been leading the highest quality restaurant, hotel, and retail design teams for decades, and he’s known for designs that are not only award winning, but that also work functionally and are not cost prohibitive.
David holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in architecture, is self-certified for the City of Chicago, and is also a LEED accredited professional.
Belinda O’Kelly
David Kasprak
O’Kelly Kasprak
Lodging Econometrics has tracked the hotel industry since 1998. Its global database includes new-hotel pipelines as well as renovations and brand conversions. Hotel franchisers once eager to launch new brands are focused on converting existing hotels because it’s a faster way to recover revenue lost to the COVID-19 pandemic than through new construction. In Episode 346, Lodging Leaders explores the increasing number of conversions in the U.S. hotel industry and what owners and operators need to consider before repositioning an asset.
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S., financiers anticipated a swell of distressed hotel businesses. Some raised rescue funds to respond to what they thought was a pending crisis. Though there are financial rescues taking place, the level of such activity is far below what industry advisers and fund managers expected. Commercial real estate investors positioned to act in the early days of the pandemic held off and are now just beginning to unleash their cash hoards totaling billions of dollars. Episode 345 of Lodging Leaders podcast explores the state of capital investment in the hotel industry.