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Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners (AJ Capital Partners) is a private real estate company based in Chicago that owns and operates lodging accommodations.[1][2][3]

AJ Capital Partners was founded by Ben Weprin,[4] the current CEO, in 2008.[2][3] Its strategy is to build a portfolio of hotels and resorts, most notably, the company's in-house brand, Graduate Hotels, a collection of boutique design-driven hotels in university-anchored markets across the US.[5] Other projects have included restorations of existing hotels and development of new properties, several located in Chicago, such as Chicago Athletic Association, Soho House Chicago, Thompson Chicago and Hotel Lincoln, as well as Thompson Nashville in Nashville; Pontchartrain Hotel[6] in New Orleans; and Chip and Joanna Gaines' forthcoming boutique hotel[7] in Waco, Texas, opening in 2021.[1][8] [9][10][11][1][2]

It also owns or has owned or invested in historic hotels and resorts, Isle de France in St. Barth and Malliouhana, part of Auberge Resorts, in Anguilla, with several locations, primarily in the U.S.[2][12][13]

In 2012, AJ Capital Partners collaborated with Soho House Group to transform a vacant rubber belt factory located in Chicago's West Loop into a Soho House, an urban, members only club and hotel, which opened in 2014.[1][2][14]

In 2015, AJ Capital Partners were the developers in restoring the 130-year-old Chicago Athletic Association into a public hotel. Weprin's investment partner for the $150 million project included financier John Pritzker.[11] The company also owned the Hotel Lincoln in Chicago, which was sold to Jordache Enterprises for a reported $70 million in 2016.[1][15]

AJ Capital Partners launched the Graduate Hotels in 2014. Graduate Hotels is a hand-crafted collection of hotels that reside in dynamic university-anchored towns across the country.  Each hotel pays homage to the heritage of its unique town through cultural nods to the local community.[16] There are currently 21 open and operating hotels across the U.S. and an additional 12 hotels under development, slated to open by the end of 2020. In the first quarter of 2017, the brand announced a partnership with Cornell University to open a location on Roosevelt Island, New York in 2020.[17][18][19] Current hotels are located in Annapolis, Maryland; Ann Arbor, Michigan;[20] Athens, Georgia; Berkeley, California;[21] Bloomington, Indiana; Charlottesville, Virginia; Columbia, South Carolina; Columbus, Ohio;[22] Eugene, Oregon; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Iowa City, Iowa; Lincoln, Nebraska; Madison, Wisconsin; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New Haven, Connecticut;[23] Oxford, Mississippi; Providence, Rhode Island; Richmond, Virginia; Seattle, Washington; State College, Pennsylvania; Tempe, Arizona.[2][24][25][26][27] In 2020, Graduate Hotels plans to open their first international property in Cambridge, England.[28]

In 2016, AJ Capital Partners added Cooper Manning, who has his own show on Fox Sports, is the son of former National Football League quarterback Archie Manning and brother of New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning and former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning, was named senior managing director—investor relations.[29][30][31][32][33]

In 2018, an AJ Capital Partners affiliate bought the San Francisco Armory for $65 million, with plans to use parts of it as office space and lease the rest to manufacturing companies.[34]

In January 2018, it was announced that AJ Capital would redevelop the site of the former May Hosiery mill in Nashville’s Wedgewood Houston neighborhood. The adaptive re-use of May Hosiery, the oldest sock mill in the South dating back to 1908, offers 180,000 square feet and will feature a prominent mix of creative commercial and retail tenants.[35]

Awards

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Grossman, Evan (June 8, 2015). "How AJ Capital is Developing a Unique Value Proposition". Lodging.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Brown, Adam (January 4, 2016). "The revivalist: A young hotelier with an eye for an aged luxury gem". Forbes.
  3. ^ a b Gallun, Alby (October 24, 2015). "Ben Weprin is behind some of Chicago's most stylish hotels. Here's his latest obsession". Chicago Business.
  4. ^ "New Icons". Hospitality Design Magazine. November 2016.
  5. ^ McCarthy, Joe (August 1, 2013). "LVMH acquires Hotel Saint-Barth, expands reach". Luxury Daily.
  6. ^ "AJ Capital Partners opens the Pontchartrain Hotel". Hotel Management. June 17, 2016.
  7. ^ "Our Next Project". Magnolia. 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  8. ^ "Shorenstein invests in Chicago mixed use redevelopment venture". REJournals.com. August 21, 2013. Archived from the original on August 16, 2014. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  9. ^ Gallun, Alby (July 28, 2015). "In hot hotel market will Thompson Chicago sell for record price?". Chicago Business.
  10. ^ Betts, Kate (April 14, 2016). "Hotelier Ben Weprin on the Best Rooms and Old Jeeps". The Wall Street Journal.
  11. ^ a b Rudnansky, Ryan (May 29, 2015). "Chicago Athletic Association reopens as luxury boutique hotel". Travel Pulse.
  12. ^ "Investor group acquires Napa Valley's Calistoga Ranch". Lodging Magazine. November 18, 2013.
  13. ^ Maloney, Ann (June 14, 2016). "Caribbean Room, Bayou Bar reopens at Pontchartrain Hotel on June 17". The Times-Picayune.
  14. ^ Ori, Ryan (July 26, 2013). "Soho House Hotel developers plan office conversion nearby". Chicago Business.
  15. ^ Gullen, Alby (February 3, 2016). "Hotel Lincoln fetches more than $70 million as hot hotel market cools". Chicago Real Estate Daily.
  16. ^ Hochman, David (2018-02-16). "A college town hotel chain that is the anti-Airbnb". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  17. ^ "Cornell University, AJ Capital to open 196-room hotel in Roosevelt Island". Christian Brazil Bautista. March 14, 2017.
  18. ^ "Ben Weprin's Graduate Hotels Will Make You Feel Team Spirit All Over Again". Town & Country. July 21, 2017.
  19. ^ "Graduate Hotels: Elevating the College Experience". Departures. August 16, 2017.
  20. ^ Guthmann, Andrea (October 13, 2016). "Upgrade a campus visit to Ann Arbor, Madison with Graduate Hotels". Chicago Tribune.
  21. ^ Pender, Kathleen (March 22, 2017). "After renovation, Berkeley hotel keeps its quriky charm". San Francisco Chronicle.
  22. ^ "Graduate Hotel coming to Columbus, Ohio, in 2019". Lodging Staff. September 19, 2017.
  23. ^ "New Haven's storied Duncan Hotel sold and will undergo renovation". Mary O'Leary. September 14, 2017.
  24. ^ "Most Innovative Companies 2016". Fast Company. February 16, 2016.
  25. ^ Karmin, Craig (August 26, 2014). "Hotel Chain Gives It the Old College Try". Wall Street Journal.
  26. ^ Vora, Shivani (September 22, 2015). "Hotel and Tour News: Musical Resort Packages in Florida and Cape Town". New York Times.
  27. ^ Flowers, Jenn (October 31, 2016). "These Hotels Tell the Stories of the Cities Around Them". AFAR.
  28. ^ Net, Hospitality. "AJ Capital Partners Plans to Debut Graduate Cambridge as First International Graduate Hotels Property". Hospitality Net. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  29. ^ Davis, Katherine (June 6, 2016). "AJ Capital executive named president of Graduate Hotels". Chicago Real Estate Daily.
  30. ^ "Cooper Manning joins AJ Capital Partners as senior managing director". Hotel Online. March 31, 2016.
  31. ^ "AJ Capital Partners opens Pontchartrain Hotel". Hotel Management. June 17, 2016.
  32. ^ Maloney, Ann (June 14, 2016). "Caribbean Room, Bayou Bar reopens at Pontchartrain Hotel June 17". Times-Picayune.
  33. ^ Price, Todd (July 1, 2016). "Take a 360 degree tour of the Pontchartrain Hotel". Times-Picayune.
  34. ^ Dineen, J.K. (2017-02-07). "SF Armory sells for $65 million — to be used for manufacturing and offices". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  35. ^ Skelton, Camren. "HFF Arranges $26.7M Construction Loan for Adaptive Reuse Project in Nashville – REBusinessOnline". Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  36. ^ "The Education of a Brotelier". Retrieved 2018-08-06.
  37. ^ Rhodes, Margaret (May 17, 2017). "This College-Town Hotel Chain is Putting Airbandb on Notice". Inc. Magazine.
  38. ^ "Most Innovative Companies of 2016". Fast Company. February 16, 2016.
  39. ^ a b "Twelve projects and programs, 1 young visionary named winners of ULI Chicago's 2016 Vision Awards". REJournals.com. June 3, 2016. Archived from the original on November 3, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  40. ^ a b Stone, Brian (April 1, 2016). "Take a Look Inside the 2016 James Beard Award Nominees for Restaurant Design". Architectural Digest.
  41. ^ "3 Structures To Get Landmark Awards". NBCChicago.com. September 11, 2015.
  42. ^ "2017 Awards for Excellence in Historic Preservation". Louisiana Landmarks Society. April 2017.
  43. ^ "Urban Land Institute's 2017 Excellence in Development awards winners". tennessean.com. May 8, 2017.
  44. ^ "The World's Most Innovative Companies 2018". Fast Company. February 27, 2018.
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