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On The Hotel Investor Playbook, Alexander Cartwright explains how he left a tenured economics professorship to buy distressed hotels and convert them into workforce housing through HotelSHIFT. The strategy rests on a simple valuation gap: hotels trade at higher cap rates than apartments, so the same building can be worth dramatically more once it’s rezoned […]

Alexander Cartwright joins Jimmy Atkinson on the Opportunity Zones Podcast to unpack how investors can redeploy capital gains into a Qualified Opportunity Fund — weighing the self-directed “captive” QOF against a professionally managed sponsor QOF, and which structure fits whom. Alex is the founder of HotelSHIFT and Vilicus Capital, converting distressed hotels into workforce housing […]

HotelSHIFT buys extended stay and distressed hotels with large rooms, in high traffic Opportunity Zone locations within growing metros, below market value, then renovates the building into workforce housing. Their two active OZ locations are in Roanoke, VA and Denver, CO. Presented live on November 13, 2025 at OZ Pitch Day by Alex Cartwright of […]

Good multifamily deals have been hard to find in recent years. And Alex Cartwright was struggling to compete with more experienced investors. He was looking for a niche that would give him a unique advantage. That’s when he met a broker at a conference who suggested converting a hotel into apartments. Alex thought it sounded […]