McNeill Investment Group (MIG), formerly McNeill Hotel Investors, announced that CEO Phillip H. McNeill, Jr. will transition to the new position of Executive Chairman of McNeill Investment Group. In that role, he will oversee the Board and provide strategic direction to the company.
Concurrently, Chief Financial Officer Chris Ropko becomes Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer of McNeill Investment Group, with responsibility for the growth and strategic oversight of the company’s restructured organization.
Phillip H. McNeill, Jr. made the announcements, part of a leadership realignment accompanying the company’s completion of a strategic recapitalization with Prospect Ridge, a prominent national private equity real estate investor, and Fulcrum Hospitality, a hospitality investment operating partner, advisor, and asset manager.
“Upon forming our partnership with Prospect Ridge and Fulcrum Hospitality, which establishes a critical pillar to our new platform for us to pursue both investment growth and expanded third party management assignments, it was an excellent time for me to step back from day-to-day management of the company,” Phillip H. McNeill, Jr. said.
“I know that we have outstanding people in place for the next generation of leadership at McNeill that exemplifies our mission of ‘People Serving People.’ ”
McNeill, Jr. founded McNeill Hotel Company in 2014. He was formerly Executive Vice President of Equity Inns, a publicly traded (NYSE) Real Estate Investment Trust, involved in growing the company from 8 hotels valued at $40 million to a portfolio of 138 hotels which was sold to a real estate fund of Goldman Sachs for $2.2 billion. He has also held senior executive positions in the hospitality group of Goldman Sachs and Pillar Hotel and Resorts.
“I am similarly excited about the future of McNeill Investment Group. I thank Phillip McNeill, Jr., Mark Ricketts, and our wonderful group of investors for the trust they have placed in me and our team in helping guide the future direction of our company,” Ropko said. “We are embarking on a fundamental re-thinking of our traditional business structure and I couldn’t be more humbled to be given this opportunity.”
Ropko has been at the forefront of McNeill’s rapid growth since 2018, leading the consolidation of a large portion of its assets under management, subsequent joint venture negotiations with Almanac Realty Securities, and similarly structuring their recently announced venture with Prospect Ridge.
Prior to joining McNeill in 2018, Mr. Ropko served as Managing Director at RobertDouglas, where he focused on structuring and raising debt and equity capital for lodging and specialty leisure properties, portfolios and companies throughout the Americas in excess of $2.5 billion. Prior to RobertDouglas, he held positions with Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO) and Goldman Sachs.
