WICHITA, KS—WaterWalk Hotel Apartments, hotelier Jack DeBoer's fifth national brand, has only been up and running for a little more than a year, but it continues to rack up successes. The Wichita-based firm has just signed an agreement with Henley, a UK-based private equity real estate firm, to construct and open five WaterWalk franchises across Florida, North Carolina, and New York.
As part of the $100 million agreement, the first investment in the franchise by an overseas investor, Henley has selected individual sites in Albany, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, and North Orlando, with construction starts slated for January 2016. And this deal is just the first of several between WaterWalk and Henley.
“They came to us and wanted to start with sites on the Eastern Seaboard,” David Redfern, president of WaterWalk's real estate development and franchising groups, tells GlobeSt.com. But once the partners finish the first five, they plan to put together similar deals that will help the new brand, which combines apartment living with hotel services, expand even further across the US.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
