In his role as Kimpton’s chief development officer, Jim Alderman is charged with directing and coordinating property acquisitions, real estate development and management contracts across the brand. Hotel Business checked in with him to discuss the boutique segment and Kimpton’s growth and expansion in the Americas.
Kimpton will be entering Europe with properties in Amsterdam and Paris. How do you see this affecting your U.S. presence? Taking the Kimpton brand global is an exciting opportunity for us to broaden exposure and grow our already strong popularity with an audience of international travelers. The Kimpton brand’s boutique style and signature heartfelt service has always appealed to international travelers, and now this will build upon that.
It’s also important to point out that our domestic growth trajectory has not stalled at all; we have the strongest pipeline in the Americas in the company’s history, with at least 13 new projects under construction and/or slated to open over the next five years.
Domestically, what markets do you see the most opportunity in? Kimpton is seeing phenomenal growth domestically in both large metropolitan and smaller tertiary markets. Many times, the unique characteristics of a property actually drive the location. But, in general, the Southeast is our fastest-growing region, particularly Florida, where it’s likely we will have 20 properties by 2020. Just this year alone, we added a new hotel in St. Pete’s Beach and announced a new property coming to Tampa in early 2018. We also announced two hotels opening in Charlotte, NC, in late 2017 and early 2018. This expansion in the South is being driven by demand generated by job growth and demographic shifts in that part of the country—these are young cities and places where you’re likely to see Kimpton guests living.
Also, success begets success—the popularity of our hotels like the Epic in Miami and The Brice in Savannah are having a domino effect on demand with developers looking to partner with us.
In addition to the Southeast, we are seeing strong growth for the Kimpton brand in the Midwest. This month, we’ll see the opening of our fifth hotel in Chicago—the conversion of a historic building to The Gray hotel—and this joins two other high-profile openings this year of Kimpton hotels in Milwaukee and Cleveland. There’s a ton of pent-up demand for boutique-style properties in these tertiary cities that have strong business traveler markets.
What’s your take on the saturation level of boutique hotels in urban markets? Demand for boutique hotels ontinues to outpace supply, despite the number of new players who have entered the market. In urban areas, we think there is room to grow, particularly by finding neighborhoods on the cusp of revitalization or even slightly outlying areas of the metro center where companies have started to relocate.
How do you evaluate transitioning neighborhoods within cities? We are always trying to find locations where you would most likely find a typical Kimpton customer—an adventure seeker with a preference for the creative and authentic elements of a place.
The Hotel Van Zandt in Austin, which we opened this year, is a good example. In 2005, JMI identified this property in what at the time was quite a transitional neighborhood. They forecasted the significant growth in Austin and capitalized on what would become the revitalization of the Rainey Street corridor. JMI’s leadership helped to spur the gentrification of the area. A key to successfully developing this project was to keep it authentically Austin. JMI is a local Austin company, which lends legitimacy in a town where authenticity is critically sought after.
In neighborhoods that are transitioning, we also strive to be near the key demand generators as well: corporate business, robust meetings business and a leisure component, and locations near centers of higher education and medical institutions.
You mentioned high demand in suburban areas. What ensures success there? Our recently announced property that will open in early 2018 in the historic Dilworth neighborhood of Charlotte is a good example. In areas like this, authenticity to the local area and strong restaurant and bar offerings are key to driving demand from the local residents as well as from visitors. We also work to offer ideal event and group spaces to drive the group business for private events such as weddings, showers, reunions, etc.
How have you seen the boutique segment evolve? As one of the pioneers of boutique hotels, Kimpton has seen quite a bit of change within the space—particularly with many of the more newly minted brand collections repeating concepts Bill Kimpton originated more than 30 years ago, such as a nightly wine hour, creative decor and pet-friendly accommodations. The one thing that has held strong as our particular differentiator has been the Kimpton approach to genuine, unscripted customer service from a diverse and empowered workforce, and the expectation for this level of authentic connection has only gotten stronger over time.
It’s true that guest expectations have risen now that there are more boutique players. It’s not enough to have trendy interior design and a rooftop deck or local treats in the minibar. Now travelers are looking for more on the amenities and programming side and have higher expectations around service.
Are there any other issues you’re focused on? For Kimpton, we see a ton of opportunity in the resort sector, particularly within the Caribbean. We’ll be opening our first Caribbean property with the Seafire Resort + Spa’s opening in early November 2016. This is a first-of-its-kind project for us, and one that will allow us to take what’s signature Kimpton and apply it through the luxury, resort lens. While the hallmarks of what makes us a boutique hotel company of choice will remain, the amenities, like our three chef-driven restaurant concepts, programming spearfishing with the GM and beachfront elopement packages, will take a highly localized spin. HB
