Azul Hospitality Group announced that Mark Crisci joined the company as Principal and Chief Investment Officer. As a seasoned industry veteran, Crisci will be responsible for expanding the company’s property portfolio through direct investments and third party management relationships as well as assisting in charting overall future company direction. Crisci brings a strong track record within the hospitality industry of creating organizational scale and driving growth.
“In a fairly short period of time, Azul has evolved into a extremely creative and entrepreneurial hospitality platform and their ability to create value through programming and a hands on approach at the property level, and in my opinion, is second to none in our industry,” Crisci said. “The firms executives have great integrity and concentration on performing at the highest level in all areas of the lodging matrix. I feel very confident that my skill set can complement the strong existing human capital already in place at Azul.”
Prior to joining Azul Hospitality Group, Crisci was actively involved in all levels of hospitality investment activity from multiple perspectives, including ownership through new construction and acquisition projects, joint venture partnerships, third party management growth initiatives and investment banking/lending platforms. He has an extensive contact network and experience in both the debt and equity marketplace with direct relationships with many of the most active debt and equity providers in the current hospitality landscape. Crisci has been directly involved in over $1 billion worth of commercial real estate projects during his over twenty year career in the hospitality industry, which has included tenures of service with K Partners Hospitality Group, Rockbridge Capital, GMAC Commercial Mortgage-Asset Backed Lending, Holiday Inn Worldwide, and US Franchise Systems. Crisci is a graduate of the University of San Diego with a BA in Business Administration with a finance concentration.
“Having Mark as part of our team enhances our reputation as a firm powerfully backed with industry expertise,” said Rick Mansur, President and CEO and of Azul Hospitality Group. “His wealth of knowledge at the executive level is extensive and I am excited to have him as part of our executive team. We look forward to him contributing to the many initiatives we are undertaking in 2015, and beyond.”
