ATLANTA — OTO Development is celebrating 20 years in business this year. Despite losing co-founder Corry Oakes in 2022, the company's current leaders are keeping OTO's strategy moving forward.
Oakes, Todd Turner, Jim Ovenden, H. Wayne Huizenga and George Dean Johnson Jr. founded OTO Development in 2004 after Johnson Jr. and Huizenga sold Extended Stay America to Blackstone Group for more than $3 billion. Part of The Johnson Group, OTO develops and manages select-service hotels across the U.S.
In 2022, CEO and co-founder Corry Oakes died unexpectedly and Turner was appointed CEO.
Oakes "was the most amazing leader and mentor and dearest friend I've ever had," Turner said during a video interview at the recent Hunter Hotel Investment Conference. "It's still extremely painful for me and our whole team but it's been amazing to watch how the team has ... stepped up and supported one another, and kept moving forward like he would have wanted us to do,"
"Looking at where we are today versus where we started, it's astounding how much we have evolved," he added.
OTO's team follows a motto that Oakes would often say: "What can we do better?"
"If we didn't continually challenge ourselves to get better, we would still be building small hotels in the suburbs and probably wouldn't be in business today," Turner said.
Today the company owns 43 hotels across eight states and manages 16 hotels through its third-party management services.
OTO recently opened two AC by Marriott hotels, one in Naples, Florida, and one in Jacksonville, Florida.
Factors that drive his team to determine which markets and hotel types to invest in is as simple, he said.
"It has to be worth a lot more than it costs to deliver, and it's hard to find places where that math works today," he added.
It's been especially tough over the past 18 months to find compelling investment opportunities, Turner said. Owners have not been keen on selling their existing hotels knowing the value is less than it was or will be.
In terms of ground-up development, "the bar keeps getting higher on what investors want to see on confidence in those return levels," he added.
Naples was an attractive market for OTO Development because there are very few branded hotels in the Old Naples neighborhood.
The company found an opportunity to build the first branded hotel in the core of downtown Naples. What makes the market attractive is the year-round demand, including a boost in the winter.
Though not as high-rated as Naples, Jacksonville is also a high-demand market, Turner said.
"We've got a bulls-eye site, bulls-eye wins and we're right in the middle of St. Johns Town Center," he said.
OTO Development continues to bid on existing hotels and chase opportunities but will not stretch to get something "if the math doesn't make sense and our confidence isn't there to pay whatever the asking prices is," Turner said.
For more insight on OTO Development's strategy this year, watch the video with CEO Todd Turner above.