Jon E. Bortz
Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pebblebrook Hotel Trust
Mr. Bortz is Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB), the largest owner of urban and resort lifestyle hotels in the United States, and a leading multi-tenant, multi-operator real estate investment trust (“REIT”), which was formed and went public in late 2009. The company currently owns 50 hotels with a total of 12,600 guest rooms across fifteen (15) urban and resort markets. He is also founder and Chairman of Curator Hotel & Resort Collection, which was formed in late 2020.
Prior to forming Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, Mr. Bortz served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties, a company he founded in early 1998. He became Chairman of the Board in January 2001. Under Mr. Bortz' leadership, LaSalle Hotel Properties outperformed all of its hotel REIT peers since its inception and was the number one performing REIT in the Morgan Stanley REIT Index in 2004. In addition, during his tenure, LaSalle Hotel Properties grew from an enterprise value of $400 million to $2.5 billion since its IPO.
Prior to separating from Jones Lang LaSalle in January of 2001, Mr. Bortz also served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Advisors, Inc. from its incorporation. LaSalle Hotel Properties was initially an advised REIT at the time of its IPO and managed by LaSalle Hotel Advisers from 1998 until the end of 2000. Mr. Bortz founded LaSalle’s Hotel Group in 1993, and as President, oversaw all of LaSalle’s hotel investment and development activities, including the April 1998 Initial Public Offering of LaSalle Hotel Properties, and supervised the investment of over $600 million in hotel assets for the firm’s opportunistic clients and public shareholders.
From January 1995 as Managing Director of LaSalle’s Investment Advisory Division and General Partner of LaSalle Partners, Mr. Bortz was also responsible for overseeing east coast development projects, including the $200 million redevelopment of Grand Central Terminal in New York City. From January 1990 to January 1995, he was a Senior Vice President of LaSalle’s Investment Division, with overall responsibility for east coast development projects and workout and restructuring assignments, including over $1.5 billion of restructurings. Mr. Bortz was responsible for overseeing development of several million square feet of office and mixed-use projects, including leasing, construction, and arranging and negotiating financing for these development projects, including the successful redevelopment of Union Station in Washington, DC, as well as the development of Sansom Commons, including the Inn at Penn at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Bortz originally joined LaSalle Partners (now Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated) in 1981.
Prior to joining LaSalle Partners, Mr. Bortz was employed as a consultant and educator for The Mader Group, Inc. and as a lecturer in The Executive Education Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, Mr. Bortz worked as an auditor for Touche Ross & Co.
Mr. Bortz holds a B.S. in Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where he majored in Accounting and Entrepreneurial Management, graduating summa cum laude in 1978. He became a Certified Public Accountant in Maryland in 1979. Mr. Bortz is also co-author of The Dow Jones-Irwin Guide to Real Estate Investing, revised second edition, 1982.
Mr. Bortz is currently a member of AH&LA’s Executive Committee of the Board and AHLA’s Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council (“IREFAC”). He is also a member of the Board of the AHLA Foundation. He is a past Chair (2020) of AHLA’s Board of Directors and current Chair of HotelPAC. Jon is also a past member of the Board of Governors of NAREIT and a past member of the NAREIT Executive Committee of the Board.