GREENWICH, Conn., Starwood Capital Group announced today the appointment of Gary Raymond to President of Starwood Development. In this newly created role, Mr. Raymond will report to Barry Sternlicht, Starwood's Chairman & Chief Executive Officer. He will assume his new position by end of year and be based in the company's San Francisco office.

In his new role, Mr. Raymond will oversee Starwood's development activities and related resort and condo/hotel investments. It is anticipated that he will help build a leading development and marketing company for Starwood's planned resort communities as well as a condo/hotel operating arm.

"The launch of Starwood Development will allow us to better manage our extensive development projects and realize our future ambitions on behalf of our investor partners," said Mr. Sternlicht. "Gary is a visionary leader who, in his 20 years at Intrawest, has led the development of some of the best known and best executed resort communities in the world such as Whistler, Tremblant, Stratton and now the re-development of Snowmass. His expertise in this area will be a tremendous resource for our future projects. Gary is a world-class executive who built a terrific group of businesses for Intrawest and I am thrilled to have him join our team."

Most recently, Mr. Raymond was President and Chief Executive Officer of Intrawest Placemaking, a world leader in destination resorts, where he spent 21 years. Since 1989, he has led Intrawest's entire resort development program. Under his leadership, Intrawest's real estate development operations have built more than 10,000 resort residential units and 600,000 square feet of commercial space. Mr. Raymond was also responsible for Intrawest's acquisition program as the company built its current network of resorts and has led a variety of real estate acquisitions and partnerships in Canada, the United States and Europe. Mr. Raymond was also responsible for several of Intrawest's emerging businesses including Storied Places, Intrawest's innovative fractional ownership business and Playground, a real estate sales and marketing company dedicated to matching people to the great playgrounds of the world. Prior to Intrawest, Mr. Raymond served as Vice President of Finance of Blackcomb Mountain, which Intrawest acquired in 1986.

Mr. Raymond received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Montreal's Concordia University. Many Intrawest projects developed under his guidance have been recognized with awards.

"I am excited to have this terrific opportunity to lead Starwood Development and work closely with Barry Sternlicht and his creative team to execute his vision," said Mr. Raymond.

Starwood Capital Group | Starwood Capital Group is a privately held investment management firm that specializes in real estate related investments on behalf of select private and institutional investment partners. Founded in 1991, Starwood is one of the nation's most active and successful real estate investment firms, having acquired a highly diversified portfolio totaling more than $9.0 billion in real estate assets. During the past fourteen years, Starwood has closed and/or advised on over 300 transactions ranging in size up to $14.6 billion, and has acquired equity interests in residential lots, multifamily and condominium units, hotels, office, retail and industrial space, golf and leisure-related properties. Starwood has led the formation and growth of several market leading companies including iStar Financial (NYSE:SFI) , the leading publicly traded finance company specializing in commercial real estate mortgage, mezzanine and net lease financing, and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (NYSE:HOT) , a leading global owner/operator of hotels, with ownership of brands such as Sheraton, Westin, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Four Points and W Hotels. Starwood (with its affiliates) maintains offices in Greenwich, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington D.C., London and Tokyo.