New JV Aims To Build $2B Of Luxury Hotel, Mixed-Use Projects

Two firms with track records of big luxury developments have launched a new partnership with the goal of developing $2B of hotel and mixed-use properties across North America. 

San Francisco-based JMA Ventures and Cyprus-based Mohari Hospitality announced the joint venture in a press release Tuesday, and a spokesperson said the projects will be a combination of ground-up construction and redevelopments. 

“I could not be more excited to partner with such a capable organization with distinctive capabilities and commitment to investing in luxury and lifestyle properties,” JMA Ventures President Todd Chapman said in the release. “We could not be better positioned as we chart our firm’s path for the future.”

JMA Ventures, founded in 1986, works across asset classes and has focused its acquisition and redevelopment efforts in the western U.S. It redeveloped an early 20th-century mansion in San Jose, California, into a Hilton under its Curio Collection brand and owns a ski lodge in Montana. The firm is in the process of turning the Hearst Corp.'s newspaper building in San Francisco into a 125-key Auberge hotel.

Mohari, a 6-year-old firm, is more globally focused and works in the hotel and lifestyle sector. The firm owns the Four Seasons Peninsula Papagayo in Costa Rica, the boutique 1 Hotel Toronto and the seven-building commercial development Galería Canalejas in Madrid. 

Mohari joined the team behind the redevelopment of a former heating plant in D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood into a 70-unit condominium under the Four Seasons brand. It is also redeveloping a 15th-century Italian villa in Florence into a resort.  

This past spring, Mohari acquired Tao Hospitality Group for $550M from Madison Square Garden Entertainment. Mohari also partnered with London-based Omnam in July 2022, and it led a $35M Series B funding round for residential hospitality company Mint House that spring. 

“Our goal at Mohari is to partner with experienced best-in-class organizations that share our values and our view on long-term investing while complementing the capabilities of our firm,” Mohari Hospitality Managing Partner J. Allen Smith said in the release. 

“JMA is such an organization, and we believe our combined resources will enable us to create some of the best hospitality and leisure properties in many of the most desirable markets in the country.”