Empty Hotels Get Second Life as Tiny Apartments During Pandemic
Developers are converting closed hotels and motels into housing, aiming to offer affordable units in hot markets with high rents
Real-estate company Vivo Living is turning a former Ramada Inn hotel in Mesa, Ariz., into apartments. Photo: Vivo Living By Dec. 22, 2020 5:30 am ET
Investors are buying hotels and turning them into rental apartments, in the latest sign of how the Covid-19 pandemic is changing the American real-estate market.
These buyers are trying to take advantage of the hospitality industry’s crisis by taking over struggling or foreclosed properties at bargain prices. They are also looking to profit from rising demand for cheap housing from households forced to downsize during the recession.