Dive Brief:
- Premium economy extended stay hotel brand LivAway Suites announced Tuesday it broke ground on its newest location in Dewitt, New York.
- The groundbreaking comes after the company unveiled plans in September for a strategic national expansion targeting growth markets, including Chicago; Washington, D.C.; and various cities in Texas, California, Florida and South Carolina.
- Some 10 additional LivAway Suites hotels are set to break ground later this year. The company is looking to capitalize on heightened extended stay demand driven by increased infrastructure spending nationwide.
Dive Insight:
The Dewitt hotel is among five properties LivAway Suites is currently building, following the brand’s launch last spring. Earlier this year, the brand broke ground on properties in Washington, Montana, Utah and Tennessee.
LivAway Suites expects its first hotel to open this summer. The brand also plans to break ground on 10 additional properties in 2024.
The brand expansion coincides with rebounding infrastructure investment across the country after the Biden administration passed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill in 2021. The spending is expected to “dramatically increase the demand for economy extended stay hotels nationally over the coming years,” LivAway Suites CEO Mike Nielson said in a statement.
The Dewitt property, specifically, is poised to benefit from this increased spending because Micron Technology, a global leader in semiconductors, is developing a $100 billion semiconductor factory a few minutes away. The project will bring an estimated 50,000 new jobs to the surrounding community, according to LivAway Suites.
“Upon opening, Micron expects to employ up to 9,000 workers, with another 41,000 jobs created at up- and downstream supply chain companies that desire to locate near the semiconductor factory. All of this equates to more jobs, more people filling those jobs and ultimately a greater need for extended stay accommodations like LivAway Suites,” Nielson said.
Other hotel players taking note of this demand include Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, which earlier this week said the ongoing “infrastructure-related travel boom” holds an approximately $3.3 billion revenue opportunity for its franchisees.
Wyndham expanded its extended stay portfolio in 2023, adding hotels to its Echo Suites pipeline. Choice Hotels International also grew its extended stay portfolio last year, and Marriott International and Hilton launched new brands in the space.
