Venerable hospitality research firm Colliers PKF Consulting USA (PKFC) has merged its practice with Jacksonville, Fla.-based Atlantic Hospitality Advisors (AHA). The three partners of AHA, Hank Staley, Jill Bidwell and Tony Jenkins, along with industry veterans Chuck Ross and Rachel Falkner, all joined the firm effective Aug. 1, 2010.

As a result of the merger, PKFC now operates in a total of 20 cities nationwide, including five offices in the Southeast: Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Asheville, N.C. 
 


Founded in 1995, AHA specializes in market analysis, appraisal and dispute resolution services for a broad spectrum of lodging industry participants, including lenders, owners, developers and hotel chains. Staley, Bidwell and Jenkins also are designated members of the Appraisal Institute.

“The coming together of PKFC and AHA also is a reunion,” says Mark Woodworth, executive vice president for PKFC in Atlanta. “Many of us had the good fortune of working with Hank, Jill and Chuck for many years back in the 1980s,” recalls Woodworth. “Their commitment to excellence and sizeable portfolio of dedicated clients furthers PKFC’s reach in the Southeast. We are fortunate to have such a talented, well-respected group join our firm.” 
 


Staley, the senior member of AHA and now a senior vice president of PKFC in Jacksonville, cites the benefits that will come with the nationwide resources of PKFC and its sister company, Colliers PKF Hospitality Research. “PKFC, like our firm, has a long-standing commitment to the value of a rigorous approach to research. I look forward to leveraging the experience and expertise of our firm and to collaborating with the PKFC experts across the nation in the months ahead.”