U.S.-based hospitality-focused real estate investor Trinity Investments has added to its investments team in Los Angeles with the hiring of Luke Toland, managing director and head of Trinity’s newly formed debt platform, and Stephany Chen, senior vice president of acquisitions.
As managing director, Toland will be responsible for overseeing the firm’s strategy for investing in private credit and special situations. Trinity’s credit strategy will initially be focused on full-service hotels and resorts in destination markets across the U.S. and Mexico. He joins Trinity from BofA Securities, where he was a managing director in the real estate, gaming and lodging investment banking group. Toland brings more than 12 years of public and private transaction experience to his role and has managed the execution of more than $73 billion in capital market transactions and $35 billion of mergers and acquisitions.
As SVP of acquisitions, Chen will be responsible for overseeing the identification and execution of acquisition opportunities. In her new role, Chen will also support the firm’s business development initiatives. She joins Trinity from JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group, where she was the U.S. lead for the Global Hotels Desk. In this role, she played a key part in managing high-profile transactions by targeting global capital and assisting international investors with their hotel real estate requirements. With 15 years of experience in the hospitality real estate sector, Chen has played a role in nearly $5 billion of global transactions.
Chen will work alongside Harrison “Jeeter” Ishida, who also serves as a SVP of acquisitions. Jeeter has been with the firm for almost 10 years and has closed nearly $5 billion of transactions with Trinity.
Over the past four years, Trinity has doubled in size and recently surpassed $6 billion in assets under management. The addition of Roland and Chen is part of the company’s plan to expand its investment capabilities into more credit-focused strategies while continuing to enhance its current investment strategy, which has been primarily focused on equity investments. The company recently expanded its strategic operations team with the addition of Rob Tanenbaum in Miami and several new hires in its London office.
“We couldn’t be prouder of our growing Trinity team,” Sean Hehir, managing partner, president and CEO of Trinity Investments, said in a statement. “Trinity has accomplished so much this past year, and we see a significant opportunity set ahead of us. Luke and Stephany will be instrumental in taking our firm’s growth to the next level.”