When work or leisure calls for whisking away to a new city, people are increasingly choosing homesharing over big hotel chains for their lodging accommodations.
More than 1 in 10 Americans have booked a stay using an online homesharing service, according to Pew Research. Among users with incomes above $75,000, the number is nearly double at 24 percent — and quickly rising.
It’s a good place to be for Milwaukee-based Frontdesk. As more and more Americans turn to homesharing platforms to book their travel accommodations, the hospitality and real estate company is poised for rapid growth in the coming year as it focuses on corporate housing for business travelers.
Frontdesk offers securely-managed short-term stays to business and leisure travelers. The online platform taps into travelers seeking more authentic experiences by housing customers in neighborhoods outside of traditionally downtown tourist destinations.
Chief Growth Officer Jesse DePinto describes Frontdesk as a short-term leasing management company that bridges the gap between stuffy hotel rooms and impersonal corporate housing suites.
“Everybody likes being in on the action,” explains DePinto. “One-hundred percent of our units are in apartment communities. It’s brought travelers to different parts of the city, to different entertainment venues, than your typical Marriotts or Hiltons with apartment-style living for one night, one week, or one month.”
Like other homesharing sites, Frontdesk doesn’t own its units. The company works with property owners to lease vacant spaces.
“A big part of our business is forming those really great relationships [with property owners] who are looking to diversify their revenue stream from 100 percent long-term tenants to a healthy mix of long-term tenants and short-term rentals,” DePinto says.
Guests who stay with Frontdesk get to enjoy stylish and fully-furnished apartments and access to the property’s on-site amenities, including pools, gyms and laundry — with the added value of a single company handling all of the cleaning and maintenance.
The result? A more consistent lodging experience across urban locales than its bigger rivals, like Airbnb, DePinto says.
DePinto founded the company with his friend and Frontdesk CEO Kyle Weatherly in 2017. Weatherly, who sold his company Solaris just a year prior, had returned from a year of traveling abroad with his family just as DePinto was trying to dream up his next business. After staying in more than 50 Airbnbs during his travels, it was Weatherly’s complaint about property consistency that led to DePinto’s lightbulb moment.
“Between Kyle’s travel experience and real estate chops, and my experience in tech, it was kind of a natural fit,” says DePinto. He launched Frontdesk from his basement with a $10,000 loan.
Since then, it’s been a cash-flow positive business. Frontdesk has raised more than $1 million from investors, and recently closed a half-million bridge round. Its investors include Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.
All of Frontdesk investors re-invested into the business, DePinto said.
“For funding, it’s about 100 times easier than we have experienced in the past," he said. "We’ve strategically raised money to pour gas on the fire.”
Today, FrontDesk operates nearly 200 units and has a staff of 50. The company has branched out from its homebase in Milwaukee to bring Frontdesk to six other cities, though the company has more than 15 other metro areas in its sights by year’s end — including Miami and L.A.
The company is also riding the waves of red, white and blue. Frontdesk expects a strong return on its housing units in both Milwaukee and Charlotte; the cities are gearing up to host the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention, respectively. DePinto says Frontdesk can’t add units — or employees — fast enough.
“The demand is there,” DePinto says. “We just need to grow our brand and gain enough marketshare. The challenge is not money or climate, it’s getting enough of the right people."
