SHORT STOP.

• Author: Solender, Michael J.
• Position: NC TREND: Hospitality

Gary DeLapp is a pioneer in the extended-stay sector. Now he's building a new brand.

Not every road-warrior corporate exec or gig worker facing a short-term, remote assignment in a distant city wants to snag an Airbnb. That's an underlying reason that veteran lodging-industry executive Gary DeLapp sees big potential for his Matthews-based startup, stayAPT Suites.

With backing from New York private-equity group Lindsay Goldberg, stayAPT is targeting 100 corporate-owned and 250 franchisee-owned properties within five years. Thirteen hotels were open as of October, including properties in Raleigh and Goldsboro, where the first stayAPT opened in October 2020. A few dozen more units are in the permitting and construction stages, mostly in the Southeast and Texas.

DeLapp says stayAPT is aiming at the higher end of the extended-stay market with a room design that sets the brand apart from entrenched rivals including SpringHill Suites, Homewood Suites and Extended Stay America, one of his former employers. StayAPT's units average about 500 square feet and include three distinct areas: a kitchen, a living room with a 55-inch television, and a bedroom connected to a full bathroom. It doesn't plan to convert existing hotels into the new brand.

"Our product is unique and a market disruptor with a distinct residential feel," he says. The units also open to a garden-style courtyard that is "a critical piece for us to generate the residential feel found in upscale apartment living."

Lindsay Goldberg tapped DeLapp to launch stayAPT in early 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic shook up the hospitality landscape. At the same time, the investment group also acquired an existing extended-stay business, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina-based Affordable Suites, which now has 20 units and is operated separately from the newer concept.

The pandemic slowed stayAPT and other building projects, to be sure. In mid-2021, DeLapp told the Hotel Management industry publication it would have 25 hotels open by early 2023.

Still, an increase in the gig economy, flexible work space and greater mobility of the workforce prompts industry followers to forecast spiking demand for extended-stay lodging. Annual revenue in the overall extended-stay sector is expected to increase about 170% over the next decade to $132 billion, according to a report in Travel Daily News, a trade publication.

DeLapp is a graduate of Florida State University with lots of industry experience. After working...