AJ Capital Partners | March 15, 2016

Chicago, Ill. – AJ Capital Partners announced today the hire of a new member to its executive team. Eric Hassberger joins the team as Senior Managing Director, as a member of both the AJ Capital Partners and Graduate Hotels teams focusing on the strategic direction for Graduate and the future growth of the company both within and outside of the Graduate platform. Graduate Hotels is a hotel collection targeting university-anchored markets across the country that celebrates each town’s unique local culture and history. “Eric is an excellent cultural fit for our Company,” said Jasin Alfaro, COO of AJ Capital Partners. “His talent and breadth of experience will immediately impact the growth and maturity of our Graduate Portfolio, and will provide us with another foundation on which to grow the AJCP brand.” Prior to joining AJ Capital Partners, Eric was the Senior Vice President of Asset Management & Acquisitions at Strategic Hotels & Resorts (SHR). In his nearly 11 years there, Eric helped grow the company into a highly-respected owner and asset manager of arguably the highest-end lodging portfolio in North America. Eric’s tenure at SHR included responsibilities in the acquisitions and development, asset management, and capital markets groups. Throughout his various roles at SHR, Eric directly participated in nearly $5 billion in hotel acquisitions and restructurings, directly leading over $2 billion in single-asset transactions since September 2013. In December 2015, SHR Resorts was acquired by Blackstone for nearly $6 billion; a process in which Eric was also directly involved. Eric continued with Blackstone post-closing through February 2016 as a senior member of the SHR and Blackstone hospitality platform.