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Serviced Apartment News held its latest Feed Your Mind thought leadership breakfast discussion in partnership with Urban Rest, hosted at Urban Rest Battersea, a Greystar owned property.
Feed Your Mind events are co-hosted, content-driven roundtable discussions over breakfast, lunch or dinner. Each event is designed to provide operators and serviced provider sponsors with the opportunity to inform and shape the market.
Led by SAN editor Eloise Hanson, the event focussed on unlocking real estate value by leveraging corporate stays. Thank you to Rajdeep Gahir (Urban Rest), Tom Bechelet (REIG UK), and Maria Hatch (Greystar) for helping to kick off the conversation.
Key takeaways include:
• Rising construction costs and extended timelines are increasing investor return expectations, putting pressure on owners to extract more value from assets.
• Sustainability obligations and planning constraints are shaping decisions on whether to reposition, retrofit, or sell.
• Layering short-stay corporate demand on long-term residential or BTR leases can enhance yield and support lease-up strategies beyond initial stabilisation.
• Conventional lets (eg. BTR, PBSA) are typically 12-month contracts, providing predictable but fixed income. A master-lease agreement on select inventory can mitigate uncertainty with churn in larger portfolios.
• Flexible leasing structures and operator partnerships are crucial to managing voids and operational complexity.
• Banks and investors evaluate the credibility of the operator managing the asset. Proof of concept can enhance valuations beyond what traditional AST income suggests.
• Corporate demand trends: lead times are shorter, full-year bookings have been made two days prior. Distribution streams have evolved to bring the hotel and extended-stay market closer together. The media/entertainment corporate sectors stay long and suit serviced apartments.
Companies represented include: AHV Associates, Avison Young, AXA, Battersea Power Station Development Company, CHAPHINIC, Citygrove, Dean Street Developments, Dolphin Square, Keystone Law, LyvInn, Office Space in Town, POHA House, Portfolio Initiatives, among others.
For further information about our Feed Your Mind events, click here or contact Katie Houghton at katie@internationalhospitality.media / +34 711 02 42 31.
