PARSIPPANY, NJ— Exercising an option in the brand’s Uniform Franchise Offering Circular, Keith Pierce, president/CEO of Wingate Inns told HOTEL BUSINESS® the all-new-construction product will switch gears— if necessary— and do what he terms “re-adaptations” of existing buildings when it comes to gaining a foothold in urban, city center markets. Pierce was quick to point out Wingate will follow the re-adaptation path only if it cannot do ground up projects in such markets. “When we launched Wingate in 1995/96, we launched it as an all new construction, mid-market, limited-service concept. That has not changed,” Pierce told HOTEL BUSINESS® “And that will not change.” Likewise, the ability to go in the “re-adaptation” direction has also been in place since the Cendant Corp. brand started, although it is only now getting the green light. “What we did when we launched the business is we put a provision in the Uniform Franchise Offering Circular [UFOC] and simply said: ‘Come January of 2001, we would evaluate our growth strategy, i.e., new construction versus conversion and decide if we want to continue with new construction solely.’” During the past two years Pierce, his executive staff and the licensee board have been reviewing the company’s direction, and ultimately, have decided to begin looking strategically only at center city locations for development. “We didn’t actually put it in play until the beginning of this year and we didn’t wrap a strategic growth plan around it,” said Pierce. “What we’ve decided now after seven years of operation, is that we are going to begin to aggressively focus, target and go after the top 25 cities across the country. We will look at existing buildings, new-construction opportunities, existing hotels, apartment buildings, office buildings, etc.” He went on to say, “In many instances if you want to get into New York or Philly or Boston or other like major metropolitan areas, it’s very difficult to build new construction. Our first option would be to build a new-construction hotel in a downtown location. But if we were unable to accomplish that, we would look at existing facilities, and do what we call a ‘re-adaptation,’” said Pierce. In shying from the word conversion, Pierce said: “We want folks not to confuse what we’re trying to accomplish here. We will not do ‘conversions.’ We will do— if no new construction is available— a re-adaptation of an existing building and only if it can conform to the Wingate standards and requirements. We don’t want to confuse our existing licensee base, the consumer and then perspective licensees.” Right now, there is “activity” in Dallas, Seattle and Chicago, said Pierce. He hopes to have two city center projects open this year, and two added to the brand annually. “If we could get three or four a year I think that would be a big win for us,” he said. As adapting office and apartment space usually presents challenges in terms of reconfiguring floor plates to accommodate traditional guestroom layouts, Pierce acknowledged the cost concerns would be weighed against new construction, perhaps just outside the city. “We will continue to search for perimeter locations for new construction. But when the opportunity doesn’t present itself for center city new construction development, we will take an existing building an go through a sizable PIP [product improvement plan]to do the physical adjustments to the facility so it does have the Wingate public space, guestroom dimensions, the Wingate amenities and services in the breakfast area, fitness center, business center,” Pierce said. “It’s a sizable project even without the new-construction component. And we recognize that,” he said. Currently, the only city center Wingate Inn location is a new construct product in downtown Phoenix. “We know that Wingate will benefit greatly by putting locations in center city areas across the country,” said Pierce. “We have open and under construction 150 hotels— all new c
Keith Pierce assumes duties for Ramada