McLEAN, Va., January 19, 2023—Officials of She Has a Deal (SHaD), a real estate investment platform that creates new pathways to hotel ownership and development for women, today announced that 2022 SHaDPitch Today’s Woman competitor, Amina Gilyard James, acquired the 70-room Quality Inn in the Raleigh neighborhood of Memphis, Tenn.
SHaDPitch is a hotel investment pitch competition launched in 2020 to catapult women on their journey to hotel ownership by facilitating the process for acquiring or developing a hotel and securing capital for the deal. Competitors identify a viable project and pitch the deal to potential investors who also serve as judges. Only one team walks away from the competition with $50,000 in deal equity, but all competitors are armed with in-depth knowledge and an extensive network to make their own hotel deal. Prior to competition day, competitors take part in six months of coursework. This multi-module educational series is delivered on SHaD’s EdTech platform and by hotel industry luminaries who provide participants with the knowledge to chart a path to hotel ownership and prepare for the competition.
“The SHaDPitch competition and its curriculum provide an invaluable inside look at the hotel industry,” James said. “It provided a roadmap and extensive network that gave me foundational knowledge of the hotel acquisition and ownership space. SHaD prepared my company, Duke Ventures LLC, to make the smartest investment possible. We’re proud of the deal we made and optimistic about what the future holds for this property and our investors.”
Located at 2855 Old Austin Peay Highway near Instates 40 and 240, the hotel is a short drive from downtown Memphis, Beale Street and AutoZone Park, home of the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, and the Memphis International Airport. Hotel amenities include a business center, complimentary Wi-Fi, indoor heated pool and hot tub. Duke Ventures plans to invest $500,000 to refresh the property with new paint, FF&E and additional cosmetic improvements.
The Quality Inn marks Duke Venture’s third hotel, but its first as the sponsor and general partner. The company targets select-service hotels throughout the Midwest and mid-Southern states. Duke Ventures plans to acquire two additional hotels over the next three to five years.
“I launched SHaD, and specifically the MasterClasses, to help women like Amina succeed. It was important for me to share everything that I learned along the way and the things that I wish I would’ve known from the outset. To watch Amina go from taking our MasterClasses to competing in SHaDPitch 2022 and setting a goal to close a deal by the end of the year is to see my life’s work in action. I am so very proud of her achievement. She earned it, and she closed the deal” said SHaD founder, Tracy Prigmore.
SHaDPitch 2023 is scheduled for April 27-28 in Bethesda, Md. More information is located here. The opportunity to participate in the 2024 SHaD Pitch cohort opens in April 2023 with two tracks—Today’s Woman (for experienced professionals) and Early Careerist (for newer professionals). Additional information can be found here.
