"The majority of these people looking at distressed hotel value, they don't come from the hotel industry, but from other parts of the investment world," Beider says. "A hotel is by far the most management-driven asset in the commercial real estate class. Part of our problem is at the peak of the market, people were jumping into the industry as operators who don't know the industry well, and that put a lot of assets upside-down."

He tells GlobeSt.com that more hotel experts are needed to be involved in evaluating these distressed assets, "filling the gap between asset manager and broker. It's a good time to bring on people, the demand for knowledge is significant, even though there's not a lot of brokerage." Fewer than 10% of the hotel offerings closed in 2009, according to a report by Real Capital Analytics. However, Beider says the next 18-to-24 months should bring significant transaction volume, depending on what is held by lenders. "It's definitely going to be exciting," he says.

Beider hired Kevin Down, Bennett Webster, Samara Rubin and Rehan Zaid. Down and Webster are MBA students at Depaul University, while Rubin and Zaid are undergraduates at the school. Beider is an alumnus and a member of Depaul's Board of Advisors for the School of Hospitality Leadership.