Title: Chairman/CEO, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust.
Company: 25-employee Bethesda firm owns 33 upscale hotels in major US cities, acquired in last five years since going public with zero hotels. Two-thirds of EBITDA comes from hotels in west coast cities, with total enterprise value at over $4B and revenue expected to hit $700M this year.
Job: Create long-term strategic vision, act as face of company with institutional shareholders (communicate vision, plans, strategies, and performance expectations); work with chief investment officer and team on acquisitions, CFO on financing, and team of five asset management VPs on collaborating with operators and their teams on maximizing hotle performance; and oversee all renovation, repositioning, and redevelopment projects. “Other than that, I don't really do much.”
Memorable project: 5-year redevelopment of Union Station in mid-80s. Complicated project, working with multiple public entities, and putting different uses together, such as 200k SF of new retail, 80k SF of office, an Amtrak train station, a new parking garage, a new bus terminal, all in a rundown, vacant national historic landmark building.
Current project: Transforming lower quality 355-room hotel bought last year for $132M on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco into Hotel Zephyr Fisherman's Wharf – $30M renovation starts this month and finishes Q2 next year.
Why CRE career: Wanted to be real estate developer growing up in Baltimore. Liked money, and making money, and creating something real, substantive, that could be touched and felt. Started in development and moved to more complicated projects and segments, from suburban office to urban office, from new to redevelopments, to mixed-use, to public-private partnerships, then to hotels.
Grew up: Northwest Baltimore – parents were government workers.
Current home: Potomac.
Why DC: Moved here in 1986 after successfully negotiating agreements for redevelopment of Union Station. Opened east coast development office for LaSalle Partners, now JLL.
School: Wharton School.
First job: Auditor for Touche Ross in Pittsburgh. (Lasted four months.)
Daily habit: Watching CNBC or Bloomberg while getting ready in the morning.
Favorite app: ESPN Fantasy Football – been in a league with same group of guys for 33 years.
Favorite movie: Groundhog Day – “It's funnier each time I watch it.”
Favorite music group: The Fratellis.
Bucket list: Playing all top 50 golf courses in US.
Family: Married 32 years to Ellen; two adult sons.
Startling fact: Pebblebrook went public on NYSE with no assets, no hotels, no pipeline of acquisitions, and successfully raised $400 million. “It was a crazy idea, though not mine.”
