Capstone Development

Capstone Development was founded by Norman Jenkins in February 2009. Jenkins, a highly regarded senior vice president at Marriott International and African American, helped Marriott launch a Diversity Ownership Initiative in 2005 which worked to improve hotel franchise ownership among minorities. A year later, Jenkins oversaw a cooperative venture between Marriott and RLJ Hotels (the hotel investment operation of cable TV magnate Robert L. Johnson). The joint venture purchased 90 hotels, and left RLJ Hotels as one of Marriott's largest co-investors. Jenkins also convinced Marriott to build a Residence Inn in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland. The hotel helped revitalize Silver Spring's downtown business district.

Jenkins announced his departure from Marriott in late November 2008. After 16 years at Marriott, Jenkins departed on January 1, 2009. In February 2009, Jenkins formed Capstone Development LLC with money from private equity funds, wealthy investors, and his own money. The company said in February 2009 that it already had good relationships with banks willing to give it development loans.

Capstone's strategy is to acquire or build hotels in the mid-Atlantic region in the United States. Company executives say their strategy is to focus on specialty hotels, hotels in markets that have high barriers to entry, and hotels that are market leaders. The company also said it would engage in public-private finance and development partnerships, as Jenkins had extensive experience in that area. At the time it formed, Capstone Development executives said they already had five projects in development and another four in the development planning stage. Some of these were public-private developments.