About

Ivan Melendez is a Senior Director within Cushman & Wakefield's Hospitality & Gaming Practice of Valuation & Advisory. He specializes in advising owners, developers, institutional investors, lenders, private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, and public-sector entities on hospitality investments and development opportunities throughout the New York Tri-State area, with particular experience across Westchester County, the Hudson Valley, and the Catskills.

Since joining Cushman & Wakefield in 2012, Ivan has advised on hospitality and mixed-use assets representing more than $100 billion in aggregate real estate value. His experience spans the valuation of existing hospitality assets, the underwriting of proposed developments, and strategic advisory assignments involving complex mixed-use and destination hospitality projects.

Ivan's ability to integrate hospitality operations, real estate valuation, and development strategy enables him to provide clients with practical, investment-oriented advice throughout the development lifecycle.

Prior to joining Cushman & Wakefield, Ivan spent 13 years with Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, where he held progressive leadership positions in sales, marketing, and revenue management. His operational experience provides a unique perspective on the commercial drivers of hotel performance, including pricing strategy, revenue management, demand segmentation, distribution strategy, seasonality, forecasting, and hotel ramp-up. This background enables him to bridge hospitality operations with institutional real estate analysis, providing clients with advice that reflects both operational realities and investment objectives. 

Many assignments involve evaluating hospitality within larger mixed-use developments, requiring the integration of market demand, development programming, land use considerations, phasing strategies, operational planning, and investment underwriting.

Education

• Ivan received his Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration, Cornell University, New York.
• Ivan has also completed courses on Financial Management and Principles of Real Estate.

Affiliations

• Member, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS)
• Practicing Affiliate, Appraisal Institute – Metropolitan New York Chapter
• Qualified Expert, New York State Supreme Court
• Certified General Real Estate Appraiser in the following state:
  • New York – 46000051560