PEG Companies Begins Converting Habitat Suites Hotel in Austin Into Quality Class B Apartments

Feb 16, 2021

So far, the commercial real estate investment leader has acquired 14 discounted extended-stay hotels with the intent to convert them into quality Class B apartments in an effort to help solve the national housing affordability crisis.

Habitat Suites Austin
By summer, PEG will have completed a full renovation of the property, leveraging the already-ideal floor plans for multifamily while adding additional updates and amenities.

AUSTIN, Texas - February 16, 2021 - (Newswire.com)

PEG Companies [PEG], a leading commercial real estate investment firm known for its unique approach to creating value, has acquired its 14th extended stay hotel for conversion into quality Class B apartments. The Habitat Suites Austin joins PEG Companies' growing portfolio of hotel-converted-to-apartments across the country.

Ideally located at 500 E Highland Mall Boulevard, the property is currently undergoing renovations and remains on track for an early summer delivery. PEG is in the process of adding a fitness center, workspace areas, cosmetic improvements, and other updates necessary to convert the property into a market-leading multifamily community while leasing out one building of furnished units on their current state.

The acquisition of Habitat Suites is the latest of many extended-stay acquisitions for PEG. The firm is currently raising a $150 million fund, the PEG Extended Stay Conversion Fund, L.P., dedicated specifically to their strategy of converting discounted extended-stay hotels into quality Class B workforce housing in strong markets across the United States. This Austin location has become the third acquisition within the new fund, following in the footsteps of an earlier fund which has 11 extended stay hotel acquisitions.

As the hospitality industry experienced the heavy burden of COVID-19 impacts last year, real estate groups across the country recognized the value in PEG's extended-stay conversion strategy and started to follow suit. When asked about how this increased focus from other groups may be impacting PEG's strategy, Cameron Gunter, Chief Executive Officer of PEG explained:

"We are seeing more groups out there bidding for the older extended-stay hotels. What we are finding is that being new to the game, these other groups are not thinking through the implications of certain purchases. We have been at this since 2018, and we are very selective in which hotels we acquire. We are confident that by remaining disciplined in our approach, we will build a strong portfolio of Class B multifamily housing units across the country and continue to stand out as the leader in this space."

When vetting potential acquisitions, PEG has several criteria on its list including urban and suburban-urban sub-market locations with strong rental occupancies, ongoing projected growth metrics in the area, and recent sales of comparable Class B multifamily units. The population within a three-mile radius of Habitat Suites and the adjacent Highland Mall is projected to grow 10.33 percent within the next five years. In addition, the greater Austin community continues to make progress on redeveloping the mall into 1.3M square feet of Austin Community College campus space; 800,000 square feet of office space; 150,000 square feet of retail space; new outdoor trails; several new parks; and 1,200 Class A apartments.

PEG investment executives say that, once converted into a multifamily community, the new use will help satisfy the growing demand for attainable housing in the Austin area.

"Like so many communities across the country, Austin is in dire need of reasonably priced housing for the working class," explained Soren Halladay, Chief Investment Officer at PEG. "We are excited to give this property a bit of tender love and care in order to transform it better than before and, in the process, offer people an inviting, stylish place to call 'home.'"

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Press Contact: Ali Monsen l 801.783.7334 l [email protected]

Related Links
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/residence-inn-buffalo-amherst-gets-new-owner-new-future-as-apartments/article_391bfc8c-51ed-1
https://pegcompanies.com/news-articles/peg-companies-unveils-new-aria-apartments-brand-in-unique-extended-stay-conversion-strategy-value-add-fund/

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Original Source: PEG Companies Begins Converting Habitat Suites Hotel in Austin Into Quality Class B Apartments

Russia to host 2030 world weightlifting champs in Olympic federation first

PARIS, France — Moscow was announced Sunday as host of the 2030 world weightlifting championships, the sport's governing body becoming the first Olympic federation to hand Russia global staging rights since 2022. No world championships in an Olympic sport, summer or winter, have been held in Russia since the start of the war against Ukraine. The 2025 world swimming champs, initially attributed to the Russian city of Kazan, were moved to Singapore. "Concerning the IWF (Senior) World Championships in 2029, it will be staged in Ahmedabad (India), and Moscow (Russia) will host the 2030 edition," the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) said in a statement. IWF general secretary Jose Quinones added that "all the bids we received were excellent and we are sure that the championships in your respective countries will be a huge success". In a post on Telegram, Russian Weightlifting Federation president Aleksandr Vinokurov thanked the IWF "for their trust", with the 2030 world champs also serving as a qualifying event for the 2032 Olympic Games. "Russia has all the necessary experience and capabilities to host competitions of the highest level," he said. "Moscow has repeatedly staged major international sporting events and has modern infrastructure." The federation toasted its success in snagging the hosting rights. "The Russian Weightlifting Federation is the first Olympic sports federation to succeed in bringing a top-level official competition back to the country in many years," it said. The decision to name Moscow as the host is a ground-breaking one and comes in the wake of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announcing a pathway for Russian athletes to compete in international competition. A state-sponsored doping program implemented, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency, at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games, and the assault on Ukraine launched by President Vladimir Putin in 2022 resulted in Russians competing in various guises at international competition, most recently as Individual Neutral Athletes. However, on July 7 Russia came in from the cold when the IOC eased restrictions on Russian athletes and opened a pathway for them to compete in qualifying events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. A furious Ukraine filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) requesting that the IOC decision be annulled.