Michael D. Barnello '87, P '20 & '21

Biography

Michael D. Barnello is managing partner and founder of Badlands Hotel Capital, an investment firm focused on the ownership of hospitality real estate.

Previously, Barnello served as president and chief executive officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO). He was with the company from its initial public offering in 1998 through its sale in 2018. LaSalle Hotel Properties was a leading multi-tenant, multi-operator real estate investment trust that owned upscale and luxury full-service hotels across the United States.

Before that, Barnello was senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, formerly LaSalle Partners Inc., where he played a key role in the company’s initial public offering. Prior to joining LaSalle in 1995, he served as vice president at VMS Realty Partners.

Barnello earned a Bachelor of Science in hotel administration from the School of Hotel Administration (now the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration) at Cornell University. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, Susie, and their three children, Matthew ’20, Olivia ’21 and Sophia.