Denver-based luxury retreat company Collective Retreats is positioning itself for significant expansion. The firm has partnered with investment banking firm RobertDouglas to aid in funding acquisition and development opportunities and achieve its growth objectives. Growing demand for experience has helped to launch the company's recent growth initiative.
"Our mission is to revolutionize global travel through a collection of dynamic destination retreats and enriching experiences, connecting person, community and environment," Peter Mack, CEO of Collective Retreats, tells GlobeSt.com. "People are becoming so hyper-connected through the digital world and devices and so over-scheduled and programmed that they're missing out on true human connection and self-actualization. We feel our mission and our experiences are more important now, for the world, than ever before. Collective Retreats has been experiencing such strong demand that we feel we owe it to our loyal guests to give them more opportunities to experience Collective."
Demand isn't only coming from clients—although the user demand is booming—but institutional capital sources as well. "There are so many beautiful, special places on our development roadmap and in our pipeline that we'd like to unlock the power of these places by expanding Collective Retreats," says Mack. "At the same time, our retreats deliver very strong investor returns, providing an opportunity to attract third-party real estate capital to accelerate our growth plan. The interest is strong. In the last nine months, institutional capital interest in the outdoor hospitality space has gone from "0" to "60" with major commitments from industry luminaries, KSL, Starwood Capital and Whitman Peterson among others."
To grow this platform, Mack found RobertDouglas to be a perfect fit, particularly in terms of company culture. "Just a couple of weeks ago we had a strategy and planning session on stand-up paddleboards on a hidden lake surrounded by pristine natural beauty," says Mack. "They know how to run a 'board meeting.' It was a great example of how the RobertDouglas leadership understands entrepreneurship, plus connection and creativity. No one else in the hospitality industry quite gets that like they do."
Of course, RobertDouglas also was able to support Collective Retreats growth goals as well. "They have rich experience and notable accomplishments in raising real estate investment capital in the hospitality space," says Mac. "The fact that RobertDouglas has also helped propel the growth of other early stage firms specializing in experiential lodging demonstrates that they understand our strategic vision for the brand and guest experience alongside the tremendous potential of this rapidly growing market segment."
This partnership will catalyze an aggressive acquisition strategy in the short-term. Collective Retreats is planning to three to five new locations per year. "In the long term, we're teamed up to continuously innovate on new products, experiences, and technology like our new Outlook Shelter, which—after two years of development—is debuting on Governors Island in New York City," says Mack. "We have the closest hotel rooms to the Statue of Liberty, right on the water in New York Harbor. Their asset light, low impact, high-touch design challenges the notion of traditional brick and mortar hotels. Think transformational hotel room that creates a luxury indoor / outdoor experience in the most spectacular settings. Places where traditional hotels can't exist."
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Kelsi Maree Borland
