AirBnb To Open Up to 14 More Home-Sharing Buildings by 2020

In a joint venture with development company Niido, Airbnb is set to debut a company-branded building in Nashville, Tennessee, with many more in the works. The latest almost-hotel project will be the company’s second announced Airbnb-branded building, and will lease apartments to a hybrid of long-term renters and short-term visitors. The concept, called “Niido Powered by Airbnb,” is part of a larger push by Airbnb to team up with real estate developers and facility managers, a group that has frequently argued that the home-sharing company enables renters to illegally sublet their apartments. In December, Brookfield Property Partners LP agreed to invest as much as $200 million into Niido’s efforts to turn residential apartment buildings into Airbnb-branded complexes.

According to Bloomberg, the new project is a takeover of an existing 328-unit building, called the Olmsted, in the SoBro neighborhood of downtown Nashville, a popular tourist destination for music lovers and bachelor parties. Under Niido’s new ownership, current residents of The Olmsted will be encouraged to sublet their units to Airbnb travelers for a maximum of 180 days per year. Airbnb and Niido will take 25 percent of the income the residents generate from home-sharing. The two companies will jointly rent a portion of the remaining vacant units through Airbnb’s platform for short-term stays.

By the end of 2019, Airbnb and Niido will open as many as 14 Airbnb-branded complexes across the country, said Cindy Diffenderfer, co-founder and chief marketing officer for Niido Powered by Airbnb. “We have a pretty aggressive growth strategy,” Differnderfer said. As part of a push to broaden its appeal to more up-scale clientele, Airbnb has added more hotels and hotel-like listings under the label Airbnb Plus. Those sites get regular visits from an inspector to confirm towels are fresh, sheets are matching and that appliances commonly found in hotels, including hair dryers and irons, are stocked. Working in partnership with real estate developers like Niido will help Airbnb offer a more hotel-like experience while operating out of homes and apartments.

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