Rob Hays plans to step down from his role as president and CEO of Ashford Hospitality Trust at the end of June.
On June 30, the hotel real estate investment trust’s senior vice president of corporate finance and strategy, Stephen Zsigray, will become the new president and CEO, according to a news release. Hays will spend the next several months working with Zsigray to help him transition into the role.
Hays plans to pursue a business opportunity with his father in an industry outside of real estate.
"I've had the pleasure of supporting the company and our hospitality business for almost two decades and consider myself blessed to have guided this wonderful organization over the past four years. Were it not for this opportunity I have, I would undoubtedly be at Ashford for the rest of my career," Hays said in the news release.
Ashford Trust Chairman Monty Bennett said the REIT's board members are grateful to Hays for his dedication and commitment, and he called Zsigray "a perfect fit" for the new role.
Zsigray has held the position of senior vice president of corporate finance and strategy since May 2020. He’s also in charge of Ashford Inc.’s cash management platform and oversees its corporate hedging strategy. Since 2020, Zsigray has helped the platform raise more than $1.2 billion in common and preferred equity, secure more than $1 billion in new corporate and property-level debt financing and negotiated maturity extensions on more than $3 billion in mortgage debt.
Zsigray also serves as the chief financial officer and treasurer of Stirling Hotels & Resorts. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows this is a non-traded, hotel-focused REIT advised by an affiliate of Ashford Inc. It was formed Sept. 1, 2023.
Zsigray joined Ashford in 2014 as a trader and portfolio manager in its investment management division. He later served as president and chief operating officer of OpenKey, an affiliated hospitality technology company. Prior to joining Ashford, he worked with UBS Investment Bank in New York. He started his career at Deloitte Consulting.
This executive transition comes as Ashford Trust is working its way through financial problems having been highly levered prior to the pandemic, during which revenue significantly dropped. Last year, the REIT announced plans to return 19 properties to lenders, a process that is still ongoing.
Most recently, the REIT announced in early February plans to sell 12 hotels in order to repay a loan totaling more than $180 million. Earlier this month, Ashford Trust closed its sale of the 390-key Hilton Boston Back Bay for $171 million. It’s one of six hotels the company expects to sell from its U.S. portfolio, with purchase agreements for five hotels and a letter of intent for one more.
The company's portfolio includes 88 hotels and more than 20,000 guestrooms across the United States.