John Rutledge

Chief Executive Officer, Oxford Capital Group

Rutledge’s private equity real estate firm was built around hospitality-driven adaptive reuse. He also founded Oxford Hotels & Resorts, an operating company that gives his firms vertical control over development, branding and operations — a structure that has enabled ambitious repositionings while amplifying exposure to hotel cycles.

Rutledge’s portfolio favors the adaptation of architecturally significant buildings, such as the LondonHouse Chicago — carved out of the historic London Guarantee Building — and Hotel Julian, which was converted from obsolete Michigan Avenue office space. He expanded his Godfrey Hotel brand to places such as Boston, Hollywood and Tampa. Those projects helped cement Oxford’s reputation for creating value in hard-to-reuse assets, particularly during periods of urban reinvention.

That strategy has also produced friction. Oxford refinanced the Godfrey Chicago in 2023 even as interest rates surged, and Starwood Capital seized control of the retail portion of LondonHouse after a debt dispute. In San Francisco, Oxford retained operating control of several hotels even as ownership shifted to lenders. That “friendly” handoff reflected a broader trend of capital stress across the coastal hotel market.

Rutledge has continued to push Oxford into high-barrier markets such as Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., betting that scarcity, branding and reuse expertise can still outperform the broader market — even as hospitality margins tighten and refinancing becomes more expensive.

— Emma Whalen