New Extended-Stay Hotel Brand Has Big Plans in Washington

LivAway Suites^®, a new economyextended-stay hotel brand, will breakground on its first Washington hotelthis month. The four-story hotel willrise on an approximately 2.5-acreundeveloped lot at 1289 Tapteal Drivein Richland.It will have 126 single-room suite (thataverage around 400 square feet), withfull kitchens and Scandinavianinspired interiors. Guest suiteconfiguration is 60% single king and40% double queen.Wasatch DC Builders NW is thegeneral contractor and is set to break ground May 3 with a projected opening date of next fall. ALivAway Suites hotel is also planned at 780 Logan Ave. N. in Renton, with the same number ofstories and rooms. Wasatch will also build that project which is slated to break ground later thisyear.The LivAway Suites brand has a master development agreement with Utah-based West77 Partnerswhich has been developing economy extended-stay hotels for 10 years. West77 is the developer ofrecord for both the Richland and Renton hotels.The LivAway Suites brand is self-described as a “new, independent, ‘upper-economy,' extendedstay lodging brand” which hopes to raise the bar in this category by offering guests a modernizedexperience and “everything they need and nothing they don't.” LivAway Suites COO Kevin Daileyhas been working in the hotel industry for over 30 years and was formerly an executive withLaQuinta, Motel 6, Accor and Red Roof. The LivAway Suites executive team also includesestablished professionals in the industry that formerly worked with Hilton Worldwide,Candlewood Suites (IHG) and WoodSpring Suites.“Our ultimate aim at LivAway Suites is to be the most developer centric brand in the industry.Being real estate developers ourselves we understand what developers need from a brand to besuccessful. LivAway Suites is “for developers, by developers,” Michael J. Nielson, CEO of West77Partners, told the DJC.The Richland hotel will be the third LivAway Suites property to break ground in the U.S., withother locations currently under construction in Tennessee and Utah. The brand has big expansionplans in Washington and beyond. Michael J. Nielson, CEO of West77 Partners, told the DJC that inaddition to the Richland and Renton sites the company has two sites currently under control whichthey are actively developing. The plan is to build 12-14 locations in Washington over the comingyears.Across the country seven or eight LivAway Suite properties will be breaking ground this year, andthe brand is currently rolling out 30-pluslocations nationwide that will break ground by the end of2024. LivAway Suites also expects to launch a franchise platform later this year.Copyright 2023 Seattle Daily Journal of CommerceBRR Architecture, which has a Seattle office, is the architect for all LivAway Suite hotels. Nielsonsaid that in most cases each hotel will look pretty much the same with some minor adjustmentspossible due to jurisdictional requirements. Each will be new construction with four-stories, 126rooms and approximately 59,000 square feet.“LivAway Suites has incorporated decades of learning and refinement in this space to create anoptimized building while maintaining a fresh, contemporary ambiance,” Nielson said. “We havetaken the best attributes of hotels in this space while adding new unparalleled augmentations tonot only raise the bar in this extended stay segment, but make it out of reach for our competition.”Those attributes include a self-serve guest check-in experience, smart parcel lockers for packagedelivery and a guest laundry room.“The rooms themselves are designed to just feel more like home at the end of the day withcomplete, residentially-inspired kitchens and places to relax, work, or play and not just stay,”Nielson continued. “It was important to us that we design something that felt modern, yet warm.The hotel incorporates Scandinavian-inspired finishes using natural elements and materials whilemaximizing the use of natural light. Our guest suites are light, airy and fresh. A welcomed changefrom the dingy and dated hotel rooms typically found in this space. At the end of the day, webelieve our guest deserves better,” Neilson concluded.