Exhibit 5.1

May 29, 2015

Board of Directors

Colony Capital, Inc.

2450 Broadway, 6^th Floor

Santa Monica, CA 90404

Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are acting as counsel to Colony Capital, Inc., a Maryland corporation (the “Company”), in connection with the public offering of up to 2,000,000 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (the “Shares”), by the Company in accordance with the terms of the Colony Capital, Inc. Dividend Reinvestment and Direct Stock Purchase Plan (the “Plan”) as described in the prospectus supplement dated May 29, 2015 (the “Prospectus”) that forms part of the Company’s effective registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-203202) (the “Registration Statement”), filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. This opinion letter is furnished to you at your request to enable you to fulfill the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K, 17 C.F.R. § 229.601(b)(5), in connection with the Registration Statement.

For purposes of this opinion letter, we have examined copies of such agreements, instruments and documents as we have deemed an appropriate basis on which to render the opinions hereinafter expressed. In our examination of the aforesaid documents, we have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the legal capacity of all natural persons, the accuracy and completeness of all documents submitted to us, the authenticity of all original documents, and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies (including telecopies). We also have assumed that the Shares will not be issued in violation of the ownership limit contained in the Company’s Articles of Restatement. As to all matters of fact, we have relied on the representations and statements of fact made in the documents so reviewed, and we have not independently established the facts so relied on. This opinion letter is given, and all statements herein are made, in the context of the foregoing.

This opinion letter is based as to matters of law solely on the applicable provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law, as amended, currently in effect (the “MGCL”). We express no opinion herein as to any other laws, statutes, ordinances, rules, or regulations.

HHogan Lovells US LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in the District of Columbia. “Hogan Lovells” is an international legal practice that includes Hogan Lovells US LLP and Hogan Lovells International LLP, with offices in: Alicante Amsterdam Baltimore Beijing Brussels Caracas Colorado Springs Denver Dubai Dusseldorf Frankfurt Hamburg Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City Hong Kong Houston Johannesburg London Los Angeles Luxembourg Madrid Mexico City Miami Milan Monterrey Moscow Munich New York Northern Virginia Paris Philadelphia Rio de Janeiro Rome San Francisco São Paulo Shanghai Silicon Valley Singapore Tokyo Ulaanbaatar Warsaw Washington DC Associated offices: Budapest Jakarta Jeddah Riyadh Zagreb. For more information see www.hoganlovells.com

Board of Directors

Colony Capital, Inc.

May 29, 2015

Page 2

Based upon, subject to and limited by the foregoing, we are of the opinion that following (i) issuance and sale of the Shares in accordance with the terms of the Plan as contemplated by the Registration Statement, and (ii) receipt by the Company of the consideration specified in the Plan, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable.

This opinion letter has been prepared for use in connection with the filing by the Company of a Current Report on Form 8-K on the date hereof relating to the offer and sale of the Common Stock, which Form 8-K will be incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement and Prospectus, and speaks as of the date hereof. We assume no obligation to advise you of any changes in the foregoing subsequent to the delivery of this letter.

We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion letter as Exhibit 5.1 to the above-described Form 8-K and to the reference to this firm under the caption “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are an “expert” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.