Marriott ’ s StudioRes was introduced to the market in June 2023 , in what the company calls the affordable and midscale extended stay space . the name changed , the promise remained the same : cost effective for owners and guests .
The real reason Concord and its president and CEO , Mark Laport , were attracted to the brand was because it was already gaining institutional interest . “ That was very important to me ,” said Laport . Historically , the lower segments of extended stay were mom-and-pop kind of assets , where cap rates , for example , were higher on exit . They were not the strongest type of investment . But when real estate titans like Brookfield began to embrace the concept , it changed the game .
In 2018 , Brookfield acquired 110 WoodSpring properties from investment firm Lindsay Goldberg for around $ 750 million . Four years later , it sold the portfolio to Blackstone and Starwood Capital for more than $ 1 billion . “ A friend of mine said : ‘ You should take a look at it ,’” Laport said , calling the operating model “ extremely
The lobby area of a StudioRes . Public spaces include laundry rooms and covered patios . attractive .” A 125-room WoodSpring , as example , can be run by around seven fulltime equivalents compared to a Courtyard by Marriott or Hilton Garden Inn that might require as many as 30 . Laport said that some 40 % of its WoodSpring guests stay more than 60 nights .
Concord started with a couple of WoodSprings to confirm the concept and to date has now built and opened 15 with its investment partner Whitman Peterson , with more to come .
NO SECRET Other hotel companies began to catch wind . Laport said that while they were pushing out WoodSpring properties , Marriott started to look at the concept and the proof of concept led them to believe that “ there must be something to this ,” Laport said .
In June 2023 , Marriott unveiled the StudioRes brand , which operates in the mid-tier space , and which Concord , a longtime Marriott partner , had a hand in developing . Makes sense , then , that Concord became Marriott ’ s first partner , breaking ground on the first StudioRes property in January , in Fort Myers , Fla ., with some 50 more promised to come — again , in partnership with Whitman Peterson . There are 11 other sites under contract that are going through entitlements .
“ Taking a new build brand from announcement in June to groundbreaking in January is thrilling ,” said Noah Silverman , global development officer ,
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