Mark Laport
Laport announced his 23-year-old firm has just broken ground on its 17th hotel this year - a 124-room Courtyard in Pittsburgh, PA. Concord has 15 hotels totaling 2,146 rooms under construction at an estimated value of $350 million, Laport says.All are premium brands affiliated with the industry's leading franchisors and are slated to open between December of this year and year end 2009.
"We did our first 50 hotels in 20 years and we hope to do our next 50 in three," says Laport. "Even with a slowing economy and a troubled credit market, we have the ability to move projects forward."
Concord can do this because it has "available equity to invest in new properties and to develop, acquire and reposition or renovate hotels; and also has "long-standing relationships with lenders who know us and know our capabilities," says Laport.
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Pittsburgh, PA
The accelerated development schedule will double Concord's portfolio size within the next three years to more than 100 owned and managed hotels.The hotelier is confident demand will be there when his new properties open.
"We are gradually increasing our geographic diversification, developing in high-growth regions, like the Southwest, in order to spread our business risk across a wider area and lessen our exposure to any one regional economy," Laport says.
For example, he says, Concord this year broke ground for the first time in New York, Illinois, Maryland, Alabama and Texas and plans to break ground in North Carolina by year end.
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"We continue to aggressively seek additional sites for hotel development, both domestically and overseas," he says. "With the continued globalization of the hotel industry, we see significant international growth opportunities, especially as U.S.-based brands like Marriott, Hilton, Starwood and Intercontinental Hotel Group seek to expand their presence here."The 15 hotels currently under construction in the Concord pipeline are:
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