Excel Group, a real estate private equity firm focused on acquiring and developing premium-branded limited-service hotels, has appointed Matt Wexler as principal. He has more than two decades of commercial real estate, development and hospitality investment experience. Most recently, he founded Cascadilla Partners, a sponsor and consultancy specializing in hotel assets and non-performing/sub-performing loans across the U.S.
In conjunction with Wexler joining Excel, the firm is launching a structured capital strategy, which will build on Excel’s institutional hospitality investment platform. The strategy will provide flexible and tailored capital solutions to partners and borrowers in the form of mezzanine debt and preferred equity for hotel assets.
“Matt is a highly entrepreneurial and successful real estate investor and developer, and he is the ideal person to grow our new structured capital platform,” said Shoham Amin, founder/principal, Excel Group. “Over the course of his career, Matt has been involved in transactions valued at more than $1.5 billion and personally responsible for creating significant value for his investors and partners.”
Wexler added, “Excel Group has developed a spectacular reputation as an accomplished investor with a focused and disciplined investment model that is particularly suited for scalability.”
During his career, Wexler has led the acquisition, renovation and asset management of hotels and loans backed by hotels totaling nearly 3,000 guestrooms. Prior to founding Cascadilla Partners, he served as managing partner at Foxhall Partners, a Washington, DC-based commercial real estate development and investment firm. Previously, he was a VP at CIM Group and a senior investment analyst for the company now known as JBG Smith.