June 21–Loews Hotels & Co., announced Wednesday as the new equity partner with KC Hotels Developers LLC to build the Kansas City Convention Center hotel, has a seven-decade history in the hospitality trade.

The high-end hotel chain that owns or operates 24 hotels or resorts in the United States and Canada is led by Jonathan M. Tisch, a third-generation family member to lead the company.

The company started small, with the 1946 purchase of a New Jersey property known as Laurel-in-the-Pines. Brothers Larry and Bob Tisch improved the property and added more locations.

Today, in addition to entering the Kansas City deal, Loews is adding properties in Toronto, Canada; Arlington, Texas; and Orlando, Fla. The Arlington property also is a joint venture, a deal with the Texas Rangers, the Cordish Cos. and Loews.

Current Loews hotels range from a boutique property with 120 rooms to one with 1,800. Currently, the company operates 12,000 rooms.

The Kansas City Loews is targeted to have 800 rooms, a lobby bar, two restaurants, an indoor pool and 60,000 square feet of meeting or event space, connected by a bridge to the convention center.

Loews, with headquarters in New York City, has been expanding significantly since 2012, acquiring seven hotels and developing three other properties for an investment the company said totaled more than $1 billion. Its newer locations are in Seattle; San Francisco; Boston; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and Los Angeles.

On its website, the company said, "We are open to multiple deal structures including: acquisition of existing hotels; third-party brand and management; ground-up construction; redevelopment; joint venture, and mergers and acquisitions.

As the hotel company's current chairman and CEO, Jonathan Tisch also is a co-owner and board member of the New York Giants football organization and serves as the team's treasurer. He was credited with helping bring Super Bowl XLVIII to New York.

Tisch is chairman emeritus of the United States Travel Association, a national nonprofit that represents the travel industry. Separately, he founded and was chairman until 2008 of the Travel Business Roundtable, a precursor organization to the travel association.

In addition to holding numerous other board positions, for six years Tisch also was chairman of NYC & Company, New York City's tourism marketing company.

Other members of Loews top leadership team include executives with former experience at CapStar, Interstate, Ritz-Carlton, InterContinental and Carlson Rezidor hotel companies.

One of Loews business mantras is to "think like an owner because we are an owner." It calls itself a "small big company" that has the infrastructure of a larger brand but a "nimble" operating philosophy that tries to make each property distinctive.

As CEO, Tisch instituted a Loews Hotels Good Neighbor Policy, a commitment to good corporate citizenship in each of its markets. The program won a U.S. President's Service Award.

Tisch has written about his leadership philosophy in three books: "The Power of We: Succeeding Through Partnerships," "Chocolates on the Pillow Aren't Enough: Reinventing the Customer Experience," and "Citizen You: Doing Your Part to Change the World."

In addition to the corporate and hotel business segments, Loews Corp. has other subsidiaries: CNA Financial Corporation, Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP.

Loews Corp., traded on the New York Stock Exchange, reported first-quarter 2017 net income of $295 million, or $0.87 per share, for the three months ended March 31, compared to $102 million, or $0.30 per share, in first-quarter 2016.

The company's net income increased $193 million compared to the prior year, with the growth attributed to higher earnings at CNA Financial Corporation, Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP and Loews Hotels, as well as higher income generated by the parent company investment portfolio.

For the 2016 fiscal year, the company reported net income of $632 million, or $1.87 per share, compared to $260 million, or $0.72 per share, in 2015. In its 2016 annual report, the company said its hotels accounted for 5.1 percent of its consolidated total revenues.

The holding company has a 2017 market cap of $15.9 billion.

Diane Stafford: 816-234-4359, @kcstarstafford