Henry S. Miller's local catch is J. David Young, a consultantand former head of franchise development for Hospitality FranchiseSystems Inc., once a subsidiary of the former Cendant Hotel Groupof Parsippany, NJ. The Ashford camp has landed Alan L. Tallis asexecutive vice president and Larry Doyle as senior vice presidentof asset management.

Sam Kartalis, president and COO of Dallas-based Henry S. MillerCommercial, tells GlobeSt.com that Young put the proposal on thetable for the company to form a hospitality group. The firm'sexecutives have invested in hotels through the years, but the onlyproperty in the corporate portfolio is the 237-room Admiral Hotelat 1507 N. Watson Rd. in Arlington.

Kartalis' brother was co-founder of Concord Hospitality Group inRaleigh, NC so the local executive has been investing in theindustry nearly two decades. "It's been a pet project of mine,"Kartalis says. "I am always on the search for programs to add andthought it would be a great fit. And, what he really needed was aplatform with a company that was recognized."