Lindsey Gets Comfy In Corporate Lodging

As if The Lindsey Cos. didn’t already dominate enough local industries, its property management arm has checked into a specialty hotel sector and decided to make an extended stay.

Since real estate mogul Jim Lindsey got serious about executive lodging six years ago, Lindsey Management Co. has added 153 upscale apartments to its Northwest Arkansas inventory alone. The swanky suites account for less than 1 percent of Lindsey’s 8,211 total units in the area, but they’re a formidable portfolio of accommodations designed to compete with hotels for business travelers.

The units may be rented by the day, week or month, and Lindsey has shortened its executive leases down to a one-page “quickie.” With its history in real estate, construction, development and property management, Lindsey added the less-than-30-day product only three years ago as a way to bring in more winter revenue.

When regular local hotel rates approach the $100 range during busy weekdays, Lindsey’s one- and two-bedroom executive suites rent from $50 to $80 per night. And for the properties that have golf courses, that includes free golf plus a litany of other amenities such as pools, business centers, hot tubs and exercise facilities.

Sales tax must be added to the suites’ daily and weekly rates, but the units also rent from $1,575 to $1,850 by the month. They range in size from 551 SF to nearly 1,500 SF (see chart, p. 22).

Robbie Lentz, supervisor of Lindsey’s executive suites division, said because the company is managing properties owned by Lindsey — instead of having to rent space and furniture — it’s also very competitive nationally with the rest of the corporate housing industry. The average monthly rent nationwide for a one-bedroom corporate apartment in 2001 was $2,368, according to the Corporate Housing Providers Association in Indianapolis.

“A lot of corporate housing firms have additional cleaning fees,” Lentz said. “They have to go out and round up furniture and cutlery and everything. But because we own and operate our own fully furnished properties, we’re able to keep our costs low. We even have our own decorator to keep the executive suites looking great.

“We try to shock people into looking at these and saying, ?This is so much better than a hotel. It feels so much like home.'”

Lentz declined to disclose revenue figures for the private business. But the local units posted an 89 percent occupancy rate for July, and a marketing campaign aimed at tapping into University of Arkansas football game weekend business is on the way.

More to Come

Lindsey is readying for construction of 12 to 40 more executive suites at The Greens on Blossom Way, an 84-acre multi-use development in Rogers that’s expected to have units available as soon as November. The $20 million project will include about 12 acres zone recently opened, and it’s already caught fire with interest,” Lentz said. “If we had more buildings in Benton County right now, we could definitely be filling those, too.”

Extended-Stays Stay After Guests

Susan Grimes said the local extended-stay hotel market is doing fine, even though the Candlewood Suites hotel she manages saw its revenue dip 15 percent to $1.03 million last year. The regional vice president of operations for A.G. Hospitality Management Services Inc., Grimes said the key for the extended-stay hotels is to keep their sales directors networking and selling aggressively.

She wasn’t sure if a growing executive housing program by Lindsey Management Co. had cut into her business, which focuses on clients staying at least 30 days. But she did say another 800 hotel rooms that are scheduled to be built in Benton County will continue to make the business competitive.

Fortunately, she said, most hotels focus on the short-stay, transient business.

“Our occupancy rate year to date is about 77 percent,” Grimes said. “Our clientele comes from a lot of people relocating here, folks on special project assignments or in the construction industry.”

The local extended-stay hotels offer amenities such as fully equipped kitchens to keep guests coming. Grimes’ facility, which offers a $59 per night rate for stays of 30 days or more, even has a full video library that offers free rentals to guests.

Candlewood has another 53 suites under construction along with 1,200 SF of meeting space.

Rogers’ 104-room Amerisuites hotel offers a $79 extended-stay rate, and its business was up 19 percent to $1.71 million last year. Betty Ross, Amerisuites’ general manager, said she believes there is more long-term stay capacity in the market but she’s not sure how much.

“There aren’t many of us locally,” Ross said. “Really, what Lindsey has come up with is really catching on and they’ve done probably more to address the need than anyone.”

Towne Place Suites in Rogers, an A.G. Hospitality sister to Candlewood, and Extended Stay America hotel in Springdale, also offer extended-stay rates and compete for corporate housing clients.