There usually isn’t much apartment developers can do with just-built complexes, except wait for tenants to fill up the units after opening. WhyHotel wants to change all that.
The company, which operates pop-up hotels in newly opened luxury apartment buildings, has landed in NoMa for its first D.C. project.
WhyHotel is launching a temporary 95-unit hotel in Equity Residential’s newest complex, 100 K Street NE, which will run through spring 2019. Booking goes live today and it will open in October, CEO Jason Fudin said.
The firm has one other pop-up hotel currently operating at a luxury high rise in Baltimore, where it created hotel rooms in 158 of the 346 units and staffed about 25 employees. More locally, it ran a pilot program at The Bartlett in Pentagon City in early 2017. This is its first foray into D.C.
Fudin said the city was receptive to the concept as it navigated zoning regulations on K Street in NoMa, which he said doesn’t typically allow hotels.
On what made the area prime for the next pop-up, he said, “D.C. is strong in terms of the number of units coming online and has a strong rental market.”
The company equips the pop-ups with a full staff, which Fudin said can be larger than the apartment building’s and is one of WhyHotel’s biggest expenses. Every bookable room is fully furnished before opening the pop-up.
As apartment residents start to fill the units, the pop-up hotel gradually downsizes and eventually vacates.
“There’s a real advantage to be able to layer in,” Fudin said. “It will help activate the building and bring it to life, fill the building and provide hospitality for residents.”
He said WhyHotel is aware of potential tension between long-term renters and nearby short-term residents, and staff work to assure the pop-up doesn't intrude on neighboring apartments.
The 100 K St. NE apartment building has 222 units spread across 13 floors, and includes a resident lounge, event room, rooftop pool and fitness center, according to Washington Business Journal.
The average occupancy for WhyHotel’s previous projects hovered around 70 percent, he said. And the company is in talks with developers outside of D.C. and Baltimore for upcoming projects, which were not disclosed.
The expansion comes on the heels of a $4 million seed funding round announced in early June, after WhyHotel spun off from Vornado Realty Trust. That round was led by Camber Creek and included Revolution’s Rise of the Rest seed fund and Working Lab Capital. It also recently added Exclusive Resorts CEO Cathy Ross to its board of directors.
