Akara Living Adds Multi-Brand Ghost Kitchens to its Apartments

Food and beverage platform C3 (Creating Culinary Communities) has partnered with Akara Living to integrate ghost kitchens in Kenect, one of Akara Living’s serviced apartment communities.

The venture, which makes in-house digital ghost kitchens a resident amenity, will launch in Summer 2021 at Kenect properties in Nashville and Phoenix. The ghost kitchens will be incorporated in all future Kenect properties as the brand expands into other urban markets across the country over the next several years.

This development is illustrative of the constant evolution of amenities for apartment buildings, as well as the growth of ghost kitchens beyond their original model. 

C3 will oversee daily operations and service needs for all Kenect onsite dining venues, including Kenect’s lobby cafés and bars and private pool decks. It will also provide up to seven restaurant concepts to Kenect residents and social and coworking club members and the surrounding community. Four concepts, Umami Burger, Krispy Rice, Sam’s Crispy Chicken, and Plant Nation, will be housed in each location.

The Kenect portfolio, which features furnished spaces, multiple amenities and hospitality-level services, includes nearly 1,000 beds with another 2,500 beds in the development pipeline. It has properties in Denver, Miami, Cleveland and Minneapolis in the pipeline.

“C3 kitchens offer a significant value-add for residents at Kenect,” says Rajen Shastri, founder and CEO of Akara Partners, in a prepared statement. “This partnership allows us to tap into C3’s network of in-demand brands like Krispy Rice and Umami Burger, elevating our amenity-rich buildings and hospitality services by providing a seamless dining experience for our residents as well as our social and coworking club members.”

At the end of 2020, C3 had more than 200 digital kitchens, 15 restaurant brands, 1,200 employees and 1.1 million meals served.

Hotels Too 

Earlier this year, C3 brought its concepts to hotels with the launch of Graduate Food Hall with Graduate Hotels.

Andrea Grigg, managing director and head of global asset management at JLL, told GlobeSt.com in an earlier interview that restaurants were an issue in hotels long before the pandemic. Traditionally, Grigg says hotels have taken a financial hit from their restaurant and room service operations. “They were losing money before the pandemic,” she says.

But recently, outside operators have begun to come in and lease kitchen space in hotels. In some cases, they may just run the kitchens. In others, they may staff both the kitchens. In the process, they can also run ghost kitchens that service other hotels. “The model is here to stay,” Grigg says.