Last week, a foreclosure notice was filed for one of the most high-profile hotels in D.C.: The Waldorf Astoria at the Old Post Office building, formerly the Trump International Hotel

The property’s leaseholder, CGI Merchant Group, defaulted on its $285M loan in February, and a foreclosure auction is now scheduled for next month.

The situation could be an early sign of distress barreling toward the hospitality sector locally and nationwide, panelists said Thursday at Bisnow’s Mid-Atlantic Hospitality Summit, held at the Washington Marriott Capitol Hill.

“That’s not going to be the [last] deal that we are talking about and are familiar with that is heading to either auction or taken back by the lender in this market over the next couple of months,” said Excel Group principal Matt Wexler, previously a managing partner at D.C. hotel developer Foxhall Partners.

In an environment where it is hard to capitalize on new developments, hotel executives said the most opportunity is in acquisitions. With the Federal Reserve keeping interest rates high, they said buyers are likely to see steep discounts as owners have no choice but to sell.

“Ultimately, I think the higher-for-longer approach is going to facilitate what I would call a stressed market — not a distressed market,” Peachtree Group Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Dispositions Michael Bernath said. “Where you have people that have been holding on because of debt maturities, because of impending debts, they’re going to just have to kind of bite the bullet and say ‘you know, we’ve done everything we can, we’ve got to sell.'”