Personalities
Lyndon French ownership of what you ’ re doing . They adopt it . They say , these guys get us .”
Weprin cites a recently opened Graduate project in New Haven , Connecticut , in a building dating back to 1896 . “ It would have been twice as cheap to build a new hotel down the street . But it wouldn ’ t have that magic that comes with a little hotel . All of our project managers and construction managers get so much more valuable with each deal they do because they learn from the mistakes of the one previously . Anytime you go into those types of projects you better be passionate about it , because if you don ’ t it ’ s just so easy to throw your hands up and say , ‘ This is too hard .’”
Many of the Graduate deals are now done directly with the universities via ground leases or partnerships .
“ We own the hotel . We ’ ll build it . We ’ ll finance it ,” Weprin says . “ We get wonderful locations because partners look at it
“ You can ’ t cheat the plaYers .
Fans may not know , but the players
– the locals – take notice when you make that commitment . then they take ownership oF what you ’ re doing . they adopt it . they say , these guys get us .”
— Ben Weprin
and see students , alumni , donors , visiting professors , and it ’ s a perfect image for the school … It has meaning and purpose . It ’ s a reflection of the town . It ’ s a mirror image to what these places feel like . That has been a big evolution of what we ’ ve been able to do and it has opened up the markets , quite frankly .”
Underdog mentality At age 41 , Weprin says he is still learning how to run a business . “ I didn ’ t know what I was doing when I started and I still feel like I don ’ t know what I ’ m doing a lot of times ,” he says , “ but I ’ m willing to learn and try new things . Hopefully , I don ’ t make the same mistake twice . Thomas Edison said there are 10,000 ways not to make a light bulb . I ’ m probably at the 10,000 mark . I ’ m still learning all the time . It ’ s a huge curve to figure out how to run a business . I started off as a real estate hustler , and I still feel like that sometimes . I will say my biggest fear is as we grow and scale that we no longer consider and treat ourselves as a scrappy underdog . That ’ s super important .”
Weprin believes as AJCP gets bigger it must think a little smaller so it can pivot and move on the fly . “ You look at our deals , and they ’ re all a function of the economy and the environment where opportunities sit . As markets got even hotter we had to find a way to differentiate ourselves , and we found a niche strategy [ with Graduate ]. We went as hard as we could to scale it .”
He looks forward to when cap rates jump and new opportunities present themselves , for example , in AJCP ’ s home market of Chicago , where Graduate is not yet represented . “ I think creativity is certainly our currency , as well as being able to recognize opportunity and deploy it .”
AJCP ’ s focus is on putting a flag in the sand in as many markets as make sense . “ We ’ ve identified 170 markets . There are probably 100 markets just in the U . S . that we can go into ,” Weprin says , adding that the company is renovating Graduate hotels in Oxford and Cambridge in England .
When asked about potential disposition as an owner-operator , Weprin says he is mostly thinking about digging in deeper with Graduate .
“ When we do decide to sell it , if we decide to sell it , we have the most unique hospitality platform and a brand that really means something ,” he says . “ This isn ’ t some gimmick trend brand that you just throw a name on .”
In the meantime , the key to everything AJCP is doing is applying optimism and passion , Weprin adds .
“ Then just continue to work with people that are super inspiring . You ask what we ’ ve done well . I think there ’ s an invisible thread here that connects people that are of the same mindset . We are all students learning , evolving and continuing to get better . You don ’ t stay the same or you risk getting run over .”
14 hotelsmag . com June 2020