New brand from AJ Capital-Starwood Capital partnership will bring lifestyle select-service to outdoor destinations.
Two powerhouse developers and long-time friends, Starwood Capital Group’s Barry Sternlicht and AJ Capital’s Ben Weprin, are teaming up in a 50-50 joint venture to create a lifestyle, limited select-service brand that caters to the outdoor lifestyle, using the iconic Field & Stream brand that Sternlicht acquired the intellectual property on years ago.
Rendering of Field & Stream Lodge
Weprin told Hotel Investment Today on Wednesday that Field & Stream Lodge Co. will acquire/convert or develop affordable properties in under-served U.S. national parks, beach, mountain and ski town markets with some initial hotels in the 160-room range coming to South Lake Tahoe, Nevada; Joshua Tree in California; Colorado Springs, Durango and Steamboat Springs in Colorado; Traverse City, Michigan; and Yellowstone National Park.
Starwood Capital’s SH Hotel & Resorts will manage the properties, according to Weprin, who added there is potential to do third-party, management deals and franchises along the way. He said the first property should open early next year.
Outdoor recreation and leisure are not trends – they are here to stay – and the idea of getting out of the metaverse and into the universe is powerful.”
Ben Weprin
The initial launch goal is to reach 20 to 25 owned properties, a mix of new-builds and conversions, including tired exterior corridor buildings. But Weprin believes there is a huge opportunity to scale aggressively, like what he created with AJ Capital’s Graduate brand in university towns. “We think this is a massive whitespace and we’re the perfect group to fill it,” he said. “We’re going to be very aggressive in the rollout and the growth and we think it is applicable to so many different markets. Outdoor recreation and leisure are not trends – they are here to stay – and the idea of getting out of the metaverse and into the universe is powerful.”
The brand will sit in the select-service space and ADR is project in the $165-$175 range, according to Weprin, with conversions offering F&B but new developments refraining from an F&B piece.
“They’re all purpose-built and custom designed. So, we have different strategies, whether it’s mountain, lake or coast,” Weprin added. “We have a couple of different palettes and expect to see us bringing the outside in to make it feel very natural, very organic for each region. You can expect to see a lot of wood, a lot of plaids. It’s sort of a modern take on an American classic.”
This idea came together in AJ Capital’s office in Nashville, Tennessee, where Sternlicht and Weprin were talking shop, and Weprin mentioned how passionate he is about the outdoors and recreation. “Barry said, ‘I own this IP and we could do this together.’ And I said, ‘Tell me when to start,’” Weprin explained. “So, that was the genesis of the whole thing.”