DP Consulting Rebrands and Expands

HOUSTON—DP Consulting has created a new identity while branching out into new service areas.

Now known as DPC Hospitality, the firm has added Christian Abbate, formerly director at CBRE Hotels and VP of PKF Consulting Houston’s office, where he will serve as SVP in charge of DPC Hospitality’s new advisory and valuation practices.

Among the firm’s other new capabilities are hotel repositioning studies, brand impact studies, asset management and other pre-development advisory services. It also started providing hotel occupancy tax projections to aid public entities in the forecasting of hotel tax revenues.

The firm expects the continued emergence of smaller, soft brands, such as Marriott’s Autograph Collection, Curio Collection by Hilton and others, as larger, established names in the hotel business look to reposition existing properties where there might be an abundance of an existing brand, said David Parker, who founded DPC Hospitality in 2001.

He also sees a big movement toward dual- and tri-branded properties, particularly in urban infill settings where land costs are prohibitive for single-branded hotel projects. A greater emphasis on hotels in mixed-use settings also is expected.

Combined, the principals of DPC Hospitality have completed more than 500 assignments covering hotel projects ranging from limited-service to conference centers and resort hotels.