Ben Weprin (June 28, 1978) is the founder and CEO of

AJ Capital Partners Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners (AJ Capital Partners) is a private real estate company based in Nashville that owns and operates lodging accommodations. History AJ Capital Partners was founded by Ben Weprin, the current CEO, in 2008. Oth ...

, a private real estate investment company based in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Weprin and AJ Capital founded Graduate Hotels in 2014, later selling it to Hilton Worldwide in 2024.

Early life and education

Weprin was born and raised in Oakwood, Ohio, a

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

suburb. He graduated from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

. Mr. Weprin completed his MBA at

Kellogg School of Management The Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management (branded as Northwestern Kellogg) is the graduate business school of Northwestern University, a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois. History Early ...

Career

In 2008, Weprin founded AJ Capital Partners. In Chicago, he restored the Hotel Lincoln, Chicago Athletic Association, Soho House and Thompson Chicago. The current portfolio includes projects throughout Nashville, as well as Chicago Athletic Association in Chicago, The Pontchartrain Hotel in New Orleans, Memoir Residential in Portland, OR, New Orleans, LA, and Nashville, TN, among others. He founded Graduate Hotels in 2014, Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts in 2021, and Memoir Residential in 2023. In 2023, AJ Capital announced a partnership with

Starwood Capital Starwood Capital Group is an investment firm headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida. It is managed by Barry Sternlicht. It was co-founded by Sternlicht and Robert Faith in 1991. In 1993, Faith left Starwood to found Greystar Real Estate Partne ...

Partners to create Field & Stream Lodge Co., which will roll out properties in 2025. Additional active projects include The Armory in San Francisco; Wedgewood Village in Nashville, TN; Belle Meade Plaza in Nashville, TN; as well as the Rusacks St. Andrews overlooking the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland, which opened in July 2021 and is part of Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts.

Awards

Inc. (magazine) ''Inc.'' is an American business media company founded in 1979 and based in New York City. ''Inc.'' publishes several print magazine issues per year, and is anchored by journalistic content online and on social media, focused on entrepreneurship a ...

2017 Design Awards, Best Interior Design - Graduate Hotels *

Fast Company ''Fast Company'' is an American business magazine published monthly in print and online, focusing on technology, business, and design. It releases six print issues annually. History ''Fast Company'' was founded in November 1995 by Alan Webb ...

The Most Innovative Companies of 2016 – AJ Capital Partners *

Urban Land Institute The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a global nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London. ULI aims to help its members and their partners build more equitable, sustainable, heal ...

Chicago’s Catalytic Redevelopment – Chicago Athletic Association *

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...

Outstanding Restaurant Design Finalist – Cherry Circle Room – Chicago Athletic Association * James Beard Foundation Outstanding Restaurant Design Finalist – Cindy’s – Chicago Athletic Association *

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 ...

Driehaus Preservation Award – Chicago Athletic Association

References

External links

www.ajcpt.com

www.graduatehotels.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weprin, Ben Living people 1978 births American chief executives Businesspeople from Dayton, Ohio University of Tennessee alumni Northwestern University alumni