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Kansas
City office of Oakwood Corporate Housing,
yet after a year, he sensed the business was not reaching its potential.
Taking pen to paper, Blalock wrote to Oakwood's Chairman Howard Ruby, asking
that Oakwood buy or build a new building in Kansas City. "Our Kansas City
staff wanted a property that would communicate Oakwood's true investment
in the community," says Blalock, talking the talk of Kansas City Area Development
Council (KCADC), of which he is a member. Two years later, the dream has
come true.
For $17 million, Oakwood has purchased the former Vintage at Tohahawk Creek at 4601 W.20th Street in Overland Park, which was just built last year.
Following a conversion period, the property begins 1998 as Oakwood at
Overland Park -- a jewel in the Oakwood
chain's portfolio and comfortably ensconced in one of Kansas' fastest
growing areas, adjacent to Town Center in
Overland Park. For reservations in Kansas City, please call 913-492-1231
or Oakwood's national reservations
number, 800-888-0808.
"This is great interim housing for business travelers," says Blalock.
"You've got a washer/dryer in every
apartment, big bathtubs, a 25 inch television, covered parking, and
you're walking distance to Town Center."
While Oakwood at Overland Park features corporate apartments, the property
also offers exceptional unfurnished
apartments. Oakwood honored all leases signed prior to its takeover,
and they are renewable too.
"We had a good business in Kansas City," says Howard Ruby, chairman
of RB Realty Group, Oakwood's parent
company. "Then Andy comes to me and says we can serve our customers
better with our own property in
Overland Park. A chance to grow our business and serve our customers
better...that got me interested."
"Last year Oakwood looked at property from Singapore to New York,"
added Ruby, "But we actually purchased
in Kansas City. That reflects how attractive we felt Johnson County,
Kansas was for investment, and also the
confidence we have in our Kansas team to make it successful."
The evolution of the Overland Park purchase highlights Oakwood's unique
position in its industry. Amidst the
recent expansion of extended-stay hotels and corporate housing services
(which sublet furnished temporary
housing), Oakwood is the only national company that actually provides
both services in a complementary
fashion.
Nationwide, Oakwood Corporate Housing takes leases on existing residential
units, appoints them with its
custom furniture and housewares, and then sublets them as extended
stay residences. In Kansas City, this
service is offered downtown, around The Plaza, in North Kansas City,
and in Overland Park.
In over 30 locations, which now include Overland Park, the company also
operates Oakwood Apartments,
fully-furnished properties with onsite Oakwood hospitality staff. With
resort amenities such as concierge,
swimming pool, fitness center, and business center, these properties
offer the comforts of an upscale extended
stay hotel.
Utilized by 80 percent of the Fortune 500 companies, Oakwood's customer
list reads like a "Who's Who" of
American business; clients include Sprint, Walt Disney Company, Hewlett
Packard, Arthur Andersen, Microsoft
and Xerox.
Oakwood Corporate Housing, based in Los Angeles, CA, is a division of
RB Realty Group, one of the nation's
largest apartment management companies.
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