FREDRICK, MD— HOTEL BUSINESS® has learned Hersha Hospitality will break ground here later this summer to tandem a 60-70 unit Comfort Suites with an existing 72-unit MainStay Suites, increasing the company’s presence in the feeder market to the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. areas. According to Hersha CFO Ashish Parikh, “It’s a very strong office market. A lot of people are there as consultants and long-term traveling employees who are being relocated and who are looking for a suites product for a month to two months at a time.” While the properties will not be physically connected, there will be some synergies and efficiencies. For example, it’s expected the Comfort Suites will be built without a pool; however, guests may enjoy the one at the MainStay Suites, which has been operating for 18 months. The properties are about 10-20 feet apart, in an L-shape, said Parikh. “The efficiencies will really come in operations; from a building cost, for example, you can subtract the pool,” said Tracy Kundey, vp/operations for Hersha Hospitality Management. “It costs about the same management-wise to run the 150 rooms as it does to run the 70 rooms. We have the efficiency of the [single]general manager there as well.” Hersha Hospitality Management currently has two other linked properties, a 69-unit MainStay Suites and a 79-room Sleep Inn, physically connected under one roof in King of Prussia, PA. —Stefani C. O’Connor
