President & Managing Partner
Following a brief career on Wall Street, Rodriguez joined Aurola Hotels in Costa Rica in 1986, where he served as President for more than a decade. Between 1991 and 1995 Rodriguez also served the Costa Rican government as Director and Vice Chairman of the country’s pension, hospitals and social security system. In the latter capacity, Rodriguez was responsible for decisions involving more than 25,000 employees and an annual operating budget of $1 billion. Rodriguez was also nominated by the President of Costa Rica to represent his country as its Director of the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (1990-1991). In 1996, Rodriguez relocated to Miami, FL to form the Cardel Hospitality Group. Within five years, he developed several hotel properties in the United States and Costa Rica. In 2000, the Doral-Airport West Chamber of Commerce named Rodriguez its “Entrepreneur of the Year.” In 2003, he merged the Cardel Group with Driftwood Hospitality Management where, as a Partner and Executive Vice President, he oversaw real estate development and acquisitions. Driftwood’s current portfolio consists of more than 30 hotels in 13 U.S. states, the Bahamas and Costa Rica. With his Driftwood Hospitality partners, he co-founded the group of DVI Cardel Invesment Funds in 2006; in 2007, Rodriguez teamed up with developer Stephen Blumenthal to form RodBlu Investment Fund, which specializes in the acquisition and management of all sectors of real estate. Rodriguez holds a degree in Finance from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. |
