Mr. Franzen puts over 16 years of commercial real estate investment and development experience to work for AJ Capital Partners as its Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Developments. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Franzen managed all aspects of his prior company’s real estate investment and development pipeline, including hotels, restaurants, retail centers, office buildings, parking structures and mixed-use projects. In a period of less than 3 years, Mr. Franzen led the acquisition of nearly 3,000 hotel rooms, both branded and independent, having a total value in excess of $390 million, while developing 968 hotel keys valued at over $275 million. Mr. Franzen has participated in the founding of both hotel management and hotel asset management companies. Mr. Franzen began his career in the real estate practice group of law firm Katten Muchin & Zavis. Mr. Franzen is a graduate of DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and holds a J.D. degree from DePaul University College of Law.

Mr. Weprin founded AJ Capital Partners in the fourth quarter of 2008. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with an M.B.A. from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Alfaro brings more than 14 years of institutional real estate experience to AJ Capital Partners. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Alfaro was a Managing Director in the Asset Management group for Greenfield Partners. During his tenure at Greenfield, Mr. Alfaro oversaw the acquisition, development, financing and disposition of over $2B in gross assets that included investments in boutique and select service hotel investments, assisted living communities, office, mixed-used projects and single tenant office/industrial acquisitions. Previous to Greenfield, Mr. Alfaro worked with Heitman Capital Management in the Acquisitions group. Mr. Alfaro holds a B.A. in Economics and Public Policy from Stanford University.

Before joining AJ Capital Partners as President of the newly formed hotel division, Mr. Strobel founded and served as CEO of Basecamp Hotels. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Strobel was Chief Development Officer at Joie de Vivre hotels where he oversaw real estate, development and project management during a growth period which saw the addition of 23 new properties. Preceding his time at Joie de Vivre, Mr. Strobel was a Senior Consultant at Bain & Company. He holds an M.A. in Economics and Econometrics from University of Edinburgh.