“Mediocracy gets exposed when passion shows up,” according to Ben Weprin, CEO of Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners. And his firm has been busy bringing its hospitality-driven passion to real estate since 2008, acquiring, developing and delivering top-notch properties across the globe.

Every investment AJ Capital adds to its portfolio tells a story. In fact, it doesn’t want to do anything that doesn’t have a story — because storytelling is the company’s ethos.

Seeing a void in the market in university towns, the firm launched Graduate Hotels in 2014. During COVID, it didn’t sit on its laurels but rather expanded overseas with the launch of Marine & Lawn Hotels & Resorts—its destination golf hotels brand in the United Kingdom — and this year it launched outdoor recreation hospitality lifestyle line Field & Stream Lodge in partnership with Starwood Capital.

Hospitality may be the protagonist in the firm’s portfolio, but Nashville-based AJ Capital has plenty of orbital characters, too. It has invested $1.5 billion in eight opportunity zones, including a 24-acre development underway in Miami’s Little River; recently launched a single-family rental business, Outpost Residential, targeting the Southeast, with land acquired in markets such as Austin TX, Foley, AL, and Savannah, GA; and has also teamed up with country music star Eric Church to bring Chief’s — a bar, restaurant and music venue — to Downtown Nashville.

When asked what's next for AJ Capital, Weprin said "We’re going to continue to figure out ways to evolve and stay current whilst celebrating the past. I don’t know where we’re going to go, I really don’t — but it won’t be boring. I promise you that."

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