NEW YORK — Amid robust competition for new management contracts, Concord Hospitality leverages its scale, relationships and strategic focus to get an edge.
In an interview with HNN at the 2023 NYU International Hospitality Industry Investment Conference, Melinda Griffith, vice president of business development at Concord, said striking deals also requires flexibility. It's about creating the best partnership possible with an owner.
Griffith joined third-party hotel manager and developer Concord in August 2020 when hotel deals were hard to find. In the following years, however, the company has grown its portfolio from about 120 to more than 150 hotels.
Not all deals are the same, and there’s no one-size-fits-all, she said. To grow its portfolio, Concord is focused on lifestyle brands currently.
“We’re probably still the No. 1 developer of AC Hotels, so we like this brand very much. It’s select-service on steroids with great [food and beverage], and it really fits to what we like to do,” she said, mentioning the company’s lifestyle and boutique hotel platform, Opus.
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The company has grown its portfolio through third-party management contracts as well as acquisitions and development with capital partners, Griffith said.
Concord works with the owners of the hotels it manages who are looking for opportunities to buy or convert other properties, connecting them with brokers when the assets are high quality, he said.
The company has also been developing several hotels under WoodSpring Suites, one of Choice Hotels International’s economy extended-stay brands and midscale, limited-service hotels that have a smaller labor model, she said. The company has been working with these hotels for three years, building them from the ground up. It will have 20 WoodSpring Suites open by the end of this year or early next year.
Concord is also developing the first three Project MidX Studio hotels, Marriott International’s new unofficially named midscale extended-stay brand. The company has also been approached by Hyatt Hotels Corp. for its new Hyatt Studios midscale extended-stay brand, she said. Hilton’s new H3 brand is also on the company’s radar.
Extended-stay properties are easier and less expensive to build, and there’s a great deal of guest demand for them, she said.
“We have to be where they go and at an affordable price range,” she said.
At the same time, luxury properties are growing in popularity again as guests “don’t want to stay in the same old midscale or even upper-upscale hotels because they want an experience,” she said.
“That, I believe, will be the future of our industry for quite some time.”