Karim Alibhai, the founder and principal of Gencom, is always on the lookout for opportunity.
Most recently, those opportunities have come in the form of a trio of luxury hotel deals in New York City — a location the Miami-based hotel investment company hadn't been in prior to the end of 2024. Today, Gencom owns three luxury hotels in the city, including The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, which it bought in February for $320 million.
Gencom's entry into the city that never sleeps was about more than just opportunity, Alibhai told CoStar News in a video interview at the recent Hunter Conference. It was opportunity paired with strategy.
When other hotel investors were down on New York City, citing profitability drops and rising labor expenses in the union-dominated market, Alibhai took the opposite approach.
"We wanted to be in New York City," he said. "We think demand is going to continue to outpace supply. And in spite of international travel [down], there is still always significant demand for New York City from business travelers and other events."
His company wanted high-end hotels — upper-upscale and above, larger, and full-service.
The first deal Gencom struck was for the Thompson Central Park in 2024 for $308 million. Formerly the Le Parker Meridien, the hotel had undergone a complete renovation and rebrand into Hyatt's Thompson brand by former owners GFI Capital and Elliott Management in 2021.
"In the first year from acquisition — in year two — our net operating income has more than doubled," Alibhai said of the Thompson. "Same hotel, same manager. Yes, while we had the tailwinds of demand, we were able to implement our asset-management strategies from years of experience in this space to really, really optimize the performance."
Then in December 2025, Gencom bought the InterContinental New York City Times Square for $228 million in a partnership with Highgate Hotels and Argent Ventures.
Back to The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park: Gencom competed with companies including Katara Hospitality, the Qatari owner of The Plaza in New York, as well as Blackstone and Sixth Street, Alibhai said. Gencom had 65 days over the busy end-of-year holiday season to complete the deal, what Alibhai called "the bet we had to make to get it in our hands."
"What we saw was an absolute jewel in the rough," he said of the 253-key luxury hotel first built in 1929 with condo units. Gencom will reposition all of the hotel's food-and-beverage operations, do what Alibhai called "a significant renovation" and possibly introduce a members' club, taking the hotel "another two notches up from where it is today."
Optimizing luxury hotels for the best possible performance is a Gencom hallmark, Alibhai said. Last year the company completed a major renovation of The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami, which it purchased in January 2024 for $400 million from Brookfield Properties.
"While there was no brand requirement for us to spend over $100 million and redo the asset, we volunteered," he said, referring to Gencom's conversations with Marriott International, which manages the hotel. "We said, 'We would like to work with you. We're going to add a beach club ... we want to move [the hotel] to another level of luxury, but you're going to work with us on making sure that we get best performance on rate management, strategy, food and beverage and so forth.'"
Watch the video above or listen to the podcast version for more from Karim Alibhai on Gencom's asset management strategies, why branded residential must be part of every luxury hotel deal and how beach clubs and members' clubs can elevate revenue.