WICHITA, KS—Jack DeBoer has launched five major brands during his hospitality career, but his newest venture, WaterWalk Hotel Apartments, is going national at a faster pace than his preceding efforts. The executive started the Wichita, KS-based company last year to serve residents that want a temporary home that combines apartment living with hotel services. And it already has 21 new properties throughout the US in different stages of development. By contrast, Value Place, his chain of extended-stay hotels, began in Wichita but first spread through the Midwest before hitting Florida and the Eastern Seaboard.   

“We are on target to get seven construction starts this year,” David Redfern, president of WaterWalk and former president of Value Place, tells GlobeSt.com, including a San Antonio location in July and others in Florida, Charlotte, Albany, NY, Kansas City, among other cities. In the spring, WaterWalk held its inaugural franchise conference in Wichita with more than a dozen different groups that included developers and operators of hotels, apartments and mixed-use projects.

The concept may have attracted their attention because it presents opportunities in the apartment sector, but without some of the possible downsides, Redfern adds. “They like this because it's a smaller price tag. We don't have to have 10 or 15 acres to build our apartments.”

WaterWalk guests can choose to rent for just one night or lease for a year or longer, he adds, with an all-inclusive bill for utilities, TV, internet, phone, and concierge services. For a full-service package, housekeeping, fully-furnished apartments, and breakfast are also provided.

As reported in GlobeSt.com, in January the company expanded its management team with a new chief financial officer and a director of franchise development. And it has just hired another set of officials to help continue the planned expansion.

The new team includes J. Nick Howell, who joins WaterWalk as vice president of construction. Howell has over 35 years of experience as a construction manager and was previously with Candlewood Suites, another brand started by DeBoer. He has worked on such major projects as the $400 million Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, FL; the $350 million Four Seasons, Emerald Bay Resort in the Bahamas; and the $180 million Green Valley Ranch & Spa in Las Vegas, among others.

Karen S. Letkowski joins WaterWalk as director of brand standards and training and will develop standards for openings, operations, sales, and quality. She has over 20 years of experience in the extended stay hotel industry in sales, operations, management, and held a similar role at Candlewood Suites.

Finally, Curtis Tillemans is the company's new director of sales. Tillemans more than 25 years of experience and has held positions at KAJ Hospitality, SpringHill Suites by Marriott, Cox Communications, and Hertz Rent-a-Car.

After starting up several national brands “we know how to roll out a concept,” says Redfern. Guests at other DeBoer brands stay an average of two to three months, so developing a combined apartment/extended-hotel is not a stretch for WaterWalk. “It's a different mix of the sauce by people who did the original recipe.”