Public Incentives as a Structural Component of Hotel Development Finance

Hospitality Investor published an analysis of how public incentives have become a structural component of hotel development finance, featuring perspectives from developers, advisors, and capital market professionals. Brian Connolly, founder and CEO of Feasibly, contributed two observations to the piece.

Connolly described the most effective incentive packages as those layered across the project itself, not just the capital stack, often through public-private partnerships that align municipal participation with project feasibility. He pointed to city-owned land, parking arrangements, and ground leases combined with financial tools as the profile of deals that produce the strongest outcomes.

He also addressed the conditions under which public participation delivers lasting value. Sound underlying economics and clearly defined public benefits, he noted, are what allow public participation to reduce upfront costs, strengthen coverage during early operating years, and distribute defined risks between public and private parties. In his framing, incentives function as part of a disciplined development strategy rather than a mechanism for closing gaps that the fundamentals do not support.

The article also quoted Travis Burns of Remington, Suraj Bhakta of NewGen Advisory, and Jamison Dague of HR&A Advisors on topics including incentive stacking, program predictability, and the role of PACE financing, historic tax credits, and property tax abatements in contemporary hotel capital stacks.

Nellie Day, Hospitality Investor, March 31, 2026