HotelierCo, a Vinings-based hotel crowdfunding startup, has launched in the Atlanta ecosystem, hoping to aid customers looking to invest in early-stage hotel developments.
The company, founded by Atlanta native Nathan Kivi, has a specific focus on boutique luxury lifestyle hotels. When a customer invests in a HotelierCo property, they will own part of that hotel and can receive a discount on stays at that property, in addition to financial gains of their investment.
The company currently has seven employees, but will be expanding that number substantially in the next 12 months, Kivi said.
Kivi has more than 20 years of experience in corporate finance, investment banking, asset management, fund management, operations and hospitality. Over the last 15 years, his primary focus has been on commercial real estate and hospitality.
"I have always run hotel funds and wished I had the opportunity to put money in them myself," he said. "With Regulation A+ crowdfunding laws, this is now a possibility. We have the opportunity to open up the hotel industry for every suitable U.S. citizen. This also brings an exciting opportunity for the large base of ownership to have the ability to make use of the hotels they have ownership, and staying at your own hotel helps the profit and viability of the hotel."
With daily pricing adjustments in the hospitality industry, Kivi said hotel rates can shift in real-time with the market. This allows hotel owners to work in the market at a faster pace than other real estate properties, he said.
“In my experience, hotels are different from other real estate products, like commercial real estate, because your return is based on the land, building and the operational business,” he said. “Essentially, you’re blending real estate with business operations, giving yourself more areas that you can leverage.”
HotelierCo investors must invest a minimum of $2,500 and be at least 18 years old and residing in the U.S. In the future, Kivi hopes to broaden the startup's investment pool to include global opportunities.
HotelierCo is now accepting investors for its first property, The Ewing Hotel. The Ewing, a boutique luxury hotel, is scheduled to open in 2021 in West Cape May, a beachfront community in New Jersey.
Investors in The Ewing will receive a discount on accommodation of 1 percent for each share owned, up to a 20 percent discount on every stay. Each share is valued at $500.
"We are looking to raise up to $35 million and hoping to have that from around 5,000 to 7,000 individual investors," Kivi said.
The Ewing will be managed by Atlanta-based Valor Hospitality Partners, a full service hotel management, acquisition and development company. Valor manages more than 75 hotel projects around the world. Its portfolio ranges from small luxury boutique hotels and game reserves to independent resorts and city hotels.
"2019 (for HotelierCo) will be focused on successfully completing the first raise and closing on the land in Cape May we have under contract," Kivi said.
