LOS ANGELES — To open unique, experiential hotels sometimes requires methods that aren't the easiest.
In a video interview at the 2023 Americas Lodging Investment Summit, Sightline Hospitality President Kirk Pederson said his company currently has eight such projects "in one form of construction or another."
"Probably half of those projects, the owners or developers are extremely well-capitalized and they're moving forward with those deals," he said. "The others are very dependent on construction debt, and that's the challenging environment today."
Since launching in 2019, Sightline has embarked on hotel projects that each require a unique playbook, Pederson said in a November 2022 interview with HNN.
Pederson said the company focuses on deals based on the product and experience instead of solely on macroeconomic challenges, such as high construction costs, that could interfere with a project.
"To develop unique, experiential product, sometimes you have to do that ground-up. ... Today, we would prefer for the project to not be ground-up because it's a lot easier to get done and doesn't take 24 to 36 months to get out of the ground," he said.
Record Numbers in Hawaii
Pederson said demand is back at Sightline's hotels in Hawaii, boosted by U.S. domestic travelers, but Asian countries should reclaim a larger share of demand this year.
Sightline currently operates three hotels in Hawaii, including the Holiday Inn Express Waikiki, Hyatt Place Waikiki Beach and Queen Kapiolani Hotel. A fourth property is under development in West Oahu.
"The Japanese traveler is slowly coming back. We had record numbers the latter half of 2022 in Waikiki. Specifically, the outer islands are well above peak numbers of 2018 and 2019," he said. "We think there is so much pent-up demand in the Asian markets, that when they come back in full force, watch out. I think Hawaii is going to be a market that we're all going to be talking about over the next five years."