Jack DeBoer, the founder of Residence Inn, Summerfield Suites, Candlewood Hotel Group, and Value Place, has introduced a new franchise concept. WaterWalk Apartments combines extended-stay hotels with apartment ownership; the first property is set for operation November 1st in Wichita, Kansas.
“At its heart, we have reverse engineered both the extended-stay hotel and apartment industries, taking the best from each, while eliminating their respective limitations, inflexibilities, and inconveniences,” says DeBoer, chairman and CEO. “Apartments are still being built and managed the same way they were more than 50 years ago, without any recognition of today’s mobile workforce and changing consumer lifestyles.”
WaterWalk combines apartments and hotel services into a gated, purpose-built community with a two building, 116,000-square-foot, $11.5 million development opportunity. Guests can choose fully furnished one-, two-, and three-bedroom accommodations and enjoy a range of hotel-like amenities. The same property also offers one-, two-, and three-bedroom unfurnished apartments to residents based on leases as short as six months.
