Choice Hotels looks to bring new extended-stay brand to Sanford

Sanford could be among the first cities in the U.S. to get an Everhome Suites, the newest brand introduced by national Maryland-based hotelier Choice Hotels.

The city received a preliminary application on Feb. 2 showing plans for a four-story, 114-room hotel totaling 57,831 square feet on a 3.47-acre site off Rinehart Road, along the south side of Garnet Lane.

The property sits behind the Seminole Towne Center mall, directly across the street from the 360-unit Crosby at Towne Center apartments, and next door to a Bahama Breeze restaurant.

A conceptual site plan submitted to the city by Denver-based 101 Architecture indicates the proposed hotel would bear the Everhome Suites flag.

The Everhomes Suites brand is so new that only one hotel has opened to date. The inaugural Everhome Suites in Corona, California began welcoming guests in September, nearly three years after the brand was formally launched.

In a Jan. 2020 news release announcing the company’s first new extended-stay brand in more than a decade, leaders with Choice Hotels said the midscale product will offer customizable, apartment-style accommodations that empower guests to adapt their environment to the way they live and work during longer-term stays.

Choice Hotels also rolled out the brand with the goal of making it easier for developers, investors and franchisees to tap into the success of extended-stay hotels.

Everhome Suites offers a low-cost-to-build, flexible prototype and lean operating model, the release says.

“With rooms and public spaces designed to be just as flexible as guests are, backed by our proven extended-stay operating model, Everhome Suites provides franchisees with another opportunity to capitalize on one of the fastest-growing segments of the hotel industry,” Patrick Pacious, president and CEO of Choice Hotels, said in a Jan 2020 news release.

Everhome Suites is a midscale extended stay offering designed to help guests maintain routine on the road with purpose-built accommodations, according to the company’s website.

The newly built hotels come with a self-serve, tech-enabled lobby food and beverage marketplace, multiple room types with multi-functional furniture, work stations, full-sized closets, spa-like bathrooms, fully equipped kitchens with dishwashers, and suites with in-room washer and dryer units.

Properties feature modern and sophisticated public spaces with fitness centers, guest laundry facilities and 24/7 self-service marketplaces with a variety of hot and cold breakfast options, according to the website.

The company’s website says the extended-stay hotel brand is coming soon to four locations: Newnan, Georgia; Bozeman, Montana; Nampa, Idaha; and Camden, New Jersey.

But dozens are in the pipeline across the U.S. as the company announced in September plans to expand the brand.

Choice Hotels, in July, inked a deal with Colorado-based real estate investment firm ServiceStar Capital Management—one of the largest extended stay developers in the nation—to develop 21 new Everhome Suites hotels, according to a news release.

“This transaction represents Choice’s largest investment in the brand, outlining a significant expansion across the U.S. with future Everhome Suites planned in Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and Florida over the next few years,” the release says.

In an emailed statement to GrowthSpotter, Robert Scribner, Regional Vice President of Franchise Development for the Southeast U.S. at Choice Hotels, said that strong migration in, steady employment, and continued growth are key metrics when identifying markets for Everhome Suites.

“The greater Orlando area is seeing that tremendous growth from both a people and business perspective, making this area a clear opportunity for additional modern, midscale extended stay options like Everhome Suites,” he said.

A news release published in late September announcing the grand opening of the California location said that 30 hotels are under construction while another 30 are planned for development.

“Two years ago, when we launched Everhome Suites, we set out to breathe new life into the segment with the first new midscale extended stay brand in nearly a decade,” Anna Scozzafava, vice president and general manager of Choice Hotels’ extended stay division, said in a statement. “This grand opening represents the first of many milestones to come for the brand, and as Everhome begins to take off around the country, we can’t wait for guests to experience our hotels, which are designed to be just as flexible as them, so they can maintain their routine when away from home for days, weeks, or longer.”

Choice Hotels’ extended-stay brands continue to drive interest from developers and investors, according to the company.

The award-winning WoodSpring Suites—ranked as the top economy brand in a 2022 Guest Satisfaction Index Study — has expanded its pipeline 68% from 2021 to 2022. Deals with prominent developers, including industry-leading real estate investment groups, resulted in 54 deals through the end of the third quarter of 2022, making this economy extended-stay hotel brand one of the fastest-growing in the country.

Conversion brand MainStay Suites more than doubled its number of agreements with 93 hotels in the pipeline by the end of the third quarter of 2022.

“Owners and developers continue to seek Choice’s proven service capabilities to help maximize return on investment while reducing total cost of ownership and meeting the needs of longer-staying guests. Our extended stay brands are a testament to this,” Ron Burgett, senior vice president of extended stay development at Choice Hotels, said in a news release. “There is no shortage of opportunity for investors in this desired segment. Demand for extended-stay is nearly double the supply available.”

Choice Hotels is one of the largest lodging franchisors in the world with nearly 7,500 hotels, representing nearly 630,000 rooms, in 47 countries and territories as of December 31, 2022.

Seminole County has seen very little new hotel activity in recent years. According to CoStar, there are only two hotels under construction countywide, and both are scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2024.

Both are extended-stay offerings.

A 122-room Home2 Suites by Hilton is being built in Lake Mary on New Technology Blvd while an 88-room Home2 Suites by Hilton is going up in Sanford at 4750 W State Road 46, according to Co-Star.

Austin LaPoten, vice president of hotel investment sales with CBRE, said extended-stay hotels continue to be built due to their high return-on-investment for owners/developers and strong demand from guests due to their lower price point and apartment-style amenities such as partial or fully equipped kitchens in rooms.

But he said there are other reasons why developers are looking at Sanford for new hotel construction.

“I think there are many reasons for Sanford’s hospitality expansion,” LaPoten said. “It can likely be tied to the nearby Orlando Sanford International Airport, which had 2.4 million passengers in 2021, and the Boombah Sports Complex, which has 15 state-of-the-art athletic fields and holds major tournaments that fill up the hotels in the area. The Sanford Sunrail Station is probably another reason for additional demand and its future potential to connect to Brightline.”

Recently, Sadique Jaffer, a land developer with Lake Mary-based Jaffer Acquisitions Group, submitted a preliminary development application to the city of Sanford for a plan that calls for the construction of a 140-room hotel along E. Lake Mary Boulevard near the Orlando-Sanford Airport.

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