S01E05: Hotel Conversions To Multifamily Housing With David Peters

Today’s guest is David Peters. Dave is a lifelong entrepreneur and business developer withe extensive experience in startup businesses and business turnarounds in multiple industries (IT, manufacturing, Dot.com, hospitality and real estate) He has over a decade of experience operating property and tenant/occupant-based businesses as well as extensive training in business management, financial analysis, accounting, employee management and government compliance. David Peters currently operates a licensed general contracting company, a property management company and a residential rental business. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering, as well as a General Contractor’s licence

David is “the hotel conversion guy” and in this episode gives a comprehensive overview of the hotel to multifamily conversion space. Specific topics covered: how to do research on specific areas; what are clients looking for when they look for apartments; what goes into converting hotel units into livable spaces from a development perspective as well some other interesting details. 

Connect with David Peters https://firstfloorequity.com/ david@firstfloorequity.com

Key points: 

01:12 David's bio: from engineer to property manager 03:22 Is David focused locally or does he do deals outside his area 04:02 David's method for evaluating markets 05:48 David's specific market criteria 06:50 Median incomes, median rents, other factors in analysis 08:24 In areas with high median incomes who is the target renter for smaller apartments? 09:20 Urban areas vs suburban spots 11:57 What are the things the urban renters want to have access to near them 15:16 Working with hotels in more isolated locations 16:50 David works with assets that have a lot of amenities 19:05 Converting large common areas into amenities for new tenants 21:30 Converting the hotel exteriors to look more like apartment buildings 23:35 Upgrading the hotel units themselves 27:22 The cost per unit of a typical upgrade 28:38 Converting the interior spaces, i.e. corridors, elevator entrances etc 29:58 The costs of hotel conversions compared to buying a standard multifamily unit 32:10 What is a home-run asset for doing a hotel conversion play? Some key things to look for 35:09 The underwriting process and some key metrics to look for 38:45 Closing thoughts & how to reach out to David