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RealAtom is kicking off a series of video interviews with CRE industry experts, starting with Derrick LaRosa from RESIDE Worldwide! Check out our video to hear his thoughts on #AmazonHQ2 moving to the #DMV and how it may affect the #CRE industry.
Christian: 00:02 Hello everyone, Christian Gorissen from RealAtom here with Derrick LaRosa from Reside Worldwide. Derrick, can you tell us a little bit about Reside Worldwide and also the impact of Amazon here in the region and also how is that going to benefit or not Reside Worldwide?
Derrick: 00:17 Absolutely. So Reside is an owner and operator of furnished short term rentals. We’re probably the largest corporate housing and alternative housing company in the US that you haven’t heard of. We’re a national platform. We’ve been in business for 25 years and we have over 300 employees. Our model is based on a convergence between hotels and apartments and delivering a short-term experience with optionality on a fully furnished basis for consumers and for business travelers.
Christian: 00:49 So what’s your take on Amazon move to DC area?
Derrick: 00:52 So coincidentally Amazon, which actually happens to be one of our largest customers because we’re headquartered in Seattle. Um, we think it’s going to be a phenomenal and we’ve been tracking it for years and years, years and we think that Reside is actually uniquely positioned to take advantage of some of the, uh, real estate needs at Amazon’s going to have in this area. I mean the fact that they are going to be bringing in 25,000 employees to the northern Virginia area over the next 10 to 15 years is going to do amazing things to real estate values. We’ve coincidentally already seen some uptick in pricing. I’m on a couple of assets that we have been chasing in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area. We realized that the company is not only going to bring its employees here, but we think that the ancillary services related to Amazon, through legal finance as well as other technology companies is going to be a huge boon for the area. So we’re looking to really capitalize on that from a housing perspective. We think that the relocation and short-term needs of Amazon and the associated companies, that will relocate here is going to be a great opportunity for us.
Christian: 01:54 That sounds great. Are you guys a public company for other content?
Derrick: 01:57 So we’re a privately held company right now. We have 100 million dollar capital commitment from a private equity firm based out of Canada that is fully backed our business model of an operational role up in the alternative housing space with a real estate acquisition platform.
Christian: 02:11 They must be excited. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you.
