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The world's largest hotel company is betting that factory-built rooms are the key to increasing revenue and helping guests sleep better.
Marriott International Inc. is planning what it says it will be the tallest modular hotel in the world, in the neighborhood NoMad in Manhattan. Its 168 rooms will be assembled in a factory in Poland, they will be sent abroad and transported by truck to New York in the middle of the night, when the streets of the city are empty and can accommodate large loads.
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The 26-story AC Hotel is expected to increase by 90 days and open next year. Marriott wants the tower to serve as a beacon for developers, lenders and factory owners.
«Nuestro objetivo es mover la industria», dijo Eric Jacobs, director de desarrollo de las marcas de servicio selecto y de estadías prolongadas de la compañía en Norteamérica. «El costo y el tiempo son muy importantes para los propietarios y desarrolladores. Se trata de la velocidad de comercialización, y cada vez que podemos mover esa aguja, es bueno para todos».
To hotel companies like Marriott would like to increase the modular construction, because it can help them open new properties more quickly, a key way to increase revenue. The method saves time because builders can work on the site while the rooms are built in the factory, Jacobs said.
Financial challenge
Modular construction is not exactly new in the hotel world, but it's unusual enough for many developers to pause. Financing can be difficult to achieve because projects require more upfront expenses than a traditional building, according to Sanat Patel, managing partner of Avana Capital, which has granted a US $ 65 million construction loan for the NoMad project.
At the same time, manufacturing capacity is limited, and many of the existing factories are busy building hospitals, houses and student apartments, said Tom Hardiman, executive director of the Modular Building Institute, a commercial group.
The shortage of labor in construction, which led to longer development times, has made the model built in the factory especially attractive. Marriott has been offering financial incentives for modular projects and connecting developers with architects, contractors and lenders in an attempt to stimulate the effort.
The AC Hotel is being developed by Concord Hospitality on behalf of owner Robert Chun. Jacobs said that within five years, modular construction could account for 25 percent of all hotels in his portfolio, including remote posts in North America for brands such as Courtyard by Marriott and Fairfield Inn & Suites.
The benefit for the guests is that the factory-built rooms are quieter. In traditional construction, a hotel room generally shares a wall with its neighbor, but modular designs generally require an isolated space between rooms.
«Esto significa que mi garantía es realmente valiosa, porque se hace mejor», dijo Patel.
