Dive Brief:
- Growing extended stay brand LivAway Suites broke ground on locations in Scarborough, Maine, and Draper, Utah, in recent weeks, the company announced.
- The brand selected both markets for their popularity among job seekers, noting Scarborough’s proximity to New England’s largest port in terms of tonnage and the Salt Lake City area’s recent growth and job creation.
- LivAway Suites has broken ground on eight properties within the last 11 months and plans to do so on nine more this year, making it “one of the fastest growing new brands” in the extended stay segment, according to the company.
Dive Insight:
Portland, Maine, which is near Scarborough, is “one of the top extended-stay demand locations in the country,” according to LivAway Suites.
Because of Southern Maine’s ongoing housing crunch, many business owners in the area can’t fill jobs due to the lack of affordable housing — meaning Scarborough is “ripe” for extended stay options, the company said.
"Our newest property in Scarborough will be built in close proximity to major employers — answering the high demand for affordable extended stay options," CEO Mike Nielson said in a statement.
The Draper, Utah, location is part of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, now LivAway’s first multi-hotel market, according to an announcement. Nielsen noted that the area has experienced “tremendous growth and job creation over the past decade,” but the supply of “sensibly priced, modern extended stay accommodations has not kept pace.”
The company plans to break ground on a third Utah location later this summer, Nielsen added.
The Draper property is adjacent to The Point, a multibillion-dollar mixed-use development near the hub for Utah’s growing tech sector. Population and job growth is anticipated for the region in coming years, according to LivAway.
The brand hopes to capitalize on heightened extended stay demand driven by an increase in nationwide infrastructure spending, the company has previously said.
And in April, Paul Duncan, chief development officer for LivAway developer West77 Partners, told Hotel Dive that LivAway hopes to have 50 hotels under construction or open by 2026.
