US: Jack DeBoer, the extended stay pioneer who founded the Residence Inn, Summerfield Suites, Candlewood Suites, Value Place and WaterWalk, has died after a lengthy battle with cancer.
After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in business in 1952, and following two years as a military police officer during the Korean War, DeBoer teamed up with his father to build homes in southern Michigan. By 1966, he was building apartments. By 1973, his company had built more than 16,000 apartments in 30 cities across 25 states. National Real Estate Investor magazine recognised him as the “second-largest multi-family developer in the United States”.
But it is the concept of the extended stay hotel and the creation of several hotel brands that are DeBoer’s biggest contribution to the hospitality industry.
He designed and built the first Residence Inn, an all-suite hotel, in downtown Wichita, Kansas, in 1975, and built or franchised 103 more properties before selling The Residence Inn Company to Marriott Corporation in 1987. In 1988, he co-founded Summerfield Hotel Corporation, a second-generation upscale all-suite hotel chain, which was sold to Hyatt. In 1995, he founded the Candlewood Hotel Company. After developing 130 hotels, Candlewood was purchased by InterContinental Hotels Group in December 2003. In June 2002, Jack used his extended stay hotel model to create Value Place, an extended stay hotel that continues to expand with more than 195 locations
His final creation was the WaterWalk brand, which partnered with Oakwood in 2019 to roll out its extended stay concept across the US.
DeBoer was also an active pilot and holds the three kilometre world speed record for jet aircraft under 18,000 pounds.
WaterWalk International president Jim Korroch said of DeBoer: “I have never met anybody that had the zest for life that Jack had. He was an adventurist. He absolutely worked and played as hard as he possibly could as long as his body would let him do that. To the last days, he was constantly talking about business.”
