Hotel industry legend Jack DeBoer is joining forces with UK-based private equity real estate firm Henley to construct and open five WaterWalk Hotel Apartments franchises in Florida, North Carolina, and New York.
As part of the US$100 million agreement, Henley, the first non-U.S. based investor in the new Wichita, Kansas-based concept, has selected individual sites in Albany, New York; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Fort Lauderdale, and North Orlando in Florida, with construction starting in January 2016.
The first WaterWalk Hotel Apartments opened last year in Wichita and reportedly achieved full occupancy within seven months. The hybrid hotel-apartment concept combines traditional hotel services into a gated, purpose-built community, and offers amenities and features such as all-inclusive pricing, full-sized appliances in modern kitchens, high-speed Internet, DirecTV with premium channels, housekeeping, fitness memberships, a communal bicycle program, local transportation, and free, customized breakfast.
Heneley currently holds around £600 million (US$927 million) in assets under management and CEO Ian Rickwood said its intention is to add more WaterWalk units to these first five and engage in additional investment and development activity in the U.S.
In addition to Henley’s five sites, construction will also begin in 2015 on new WaterWalk Hotel Apartments complexes in Louisville, Kentucky; Denver, Colorado; Raleigh, North Carolina; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and San Antonio, Texas.