The OWO Residences by Raffles, London, UK — Photo by Accor
Fairmont Residences Century Plaza, Los Angeles, USA — Photo by Accor

Branded residences are one of the fastest growing categories in the hospitality industry. At the start of 2023, Accor, a leading global player in the branded residences category, launched Accor One Living, an industry-first 360° platform for mixed-use projects and branded homeowner communities.

Just a little over one year after being launched, we are sharing an update on the progress of our fast-growing, branded residences business line. Jeff Tisdall, Accor One Living’s Chief Business Officer sat down to discuss how this dedicated organization, which supports every phase of the lifecycle of mixed-use projects, is serving development partners, investors, and homeowners, and has become a key value driver for Accor in this fast-growing sector.

The launch of Accor One Living last year was a major milestone for Accor. How did the Group develop expertise in branded residences and mixed-use developments?

Jeff Tisdall: Accor One Living formalizes what we’ve been doing for more than two decades. We’ve gathered over 20 years of expertise in branded residences and related mixed-use products and brought it together into a single organization. We provide a turnkey set of solutions tailored to each market: bringing each brand to life through architecture and design, facilities and amenities, experience and global recognition. We have now successfully extended the business, first pioneered under the Fairmont brand in North America, across nearly all segments and geographies served by Accor.

And what are the strengths of Accor One Living?

JT: The successful integration of a branded residence into a mixed-use development requires a distinct number of capabilities. Our advantage lies in our ability to pull these capabilities together within a single, integrated team and then apply this cross-functional expertise in a coordinated fashion across each phase of a project. To illustrate, Accor One Living supports our development partners throughout planning and design, legal structuring, as well as in their sales and marketing efforts, and into the pre-opening and operating phases. It is a truly turnkey, 360° support and it really makes a difference to our development partners and the homeowner communities we serve. Real estate investors and developers have long chosen to partner with Accor for its care and commitment to successfully support these complex projects, knowing the Group understands their needs and has a brand that will resonate with the profile of the homeowners they are targeting, and their developments' unique, local aesthetic.

Accor One Living brings a deep commitment and turnkey, 360° support made possible by a single, focused, and integrated team of specialists – and that means a lot to our development partners, to the incredible brands we are growing, and to our homeowner communities. Accor One Living is designed to set us apart from our competitors. Jeff Tisdall, Chief Business Officer Accor One Living

How does Accor One Living leverage Accor’s brand portfolio and expertise to deliver tailored solutions to development partners?

JT: The decision to co-locate a hotel and a branded residence in a mixed-use development, or to create a standalone branded community, is really the starting point for us. We think carefully about the translation of the brand's identity to residential spaces and private facilities, while ensuring the curation of a distinct and uniquely personalized residential experience. Across the Accor One Living portfolio, we now offer 25 brands – encompassing luxury, lifestyle, premium and midscale segments – enabling our development partners to enter their market with well differentiated offers designed to appeal to relevant buyer profiles. Our portfolio includes not only the established luxury pioneers in branded residential such as Fairmont and Raffles, but also innovative lifestyle brands that are rooted in culture and community. We understand that for our development partners, it is crucial to make a distinctive impression when entering a market. As an illustration, SO/ Residences Uptown Dubai was recently opened by our partner DMCC: featuring the fashion-driven branding of SO/, it has infused an energy, sophistication and playfulness into the design and service offering. This tailored approach, in which we reinterpret and adapt the brand to suit a private, residential setting, has enabled us to support DMCC in bringing a truly first-of-a-kind offering to a highly competitive market.

And how is Accor One Living driving value for Accor?

JT: There are three ways in which our mixed-use platform drives value that come immediately to mind for me. For starters, we’re building brand loyalty across the Accor ecosystem. We see the purchase of a branded residence as the ultimate expression of loyalty. Our experience as operators of branded communities significantly deepens our relationship with homeowners, and we take this responsibility very seriously. Secondly, for our investment partners, branded residential and mixed-use capabilities, particularly in the luxury, premium and lifestyle segments, are competitive must-haves. Investors are looking for operators who can not only drive the performance of hotel assets but are able to successfully extend their management solutions and brands to residential, coworking and private club concepts. Accor One Living significantly enhances our overall competitiveness and appeal to investment partners. Finally, for homeowners themselves, the programming, service and experiences we curate in very private residential settings, be that an opportunity to host an intimate talk with an author or artist in a screening room, cocktail or wine tasting events or a private dining concept, enables us to evolve our brands and bring them to life in exciting new ways. It helps to drive brand innovation and it inspires us.

What is the potential of mixed-use development?

JT: Mixed-use development is front and center in terms of growing our brands. A significant majority of the new hotel development opportunities we are seeing are mixed-use. In addition to hotel and residential components, there is frequently further value to be added through the addition of other innovative hospitality products, be that a private club or coworking concept. These projects require not only compelling brands, but also the ability to bring specific expertise to each component while still capturing efficiencies during the operating phase through a shared services model. There is also an important balance to strike in terms of sharing facilities and amenities. Hotels for instance, enable us to make a compelling array of 24/7, on-demand services available to residences owners, and yet the privacy of the homeowner needs to be safeguarded at every turn during the design process and operating phase. This is really where we feel our expertise in branded residences sets us apart, as we can leverage our two decades of experience to help our partners successfully integrate a next generation of products and services into mixed-use developments.

Can you name a few emblematic projects?

JT: It has been said the OWO Residences by Raffles in London is the flagship of flagships. It’s both a legacy project - formerly the Old War Office, this building has played a pivotal role in British history - and a highly technical, design success, with 12 iconic restaurants and bars, an immersive spa and 84 Raffles branded residences. Its dramatic restoration represents a massive commitment by the Hinduja Group and a legacy for future generations. Another compelling example of modern mixed-use development is SO/ Uptown Dubai, where fashion and design theater inspire a spectacular set of residence amenities and private facilities which are exclusive to residence owners.

Let’s look to the future, what are the next steps to leverage the Accor One Living platform?

JT: There is always a lot to do, and we are incredibly excited by the potential we see. Primarily for us, it is a matter of continuing to build on our strengths. We offer our homeowners tremendous benefits and privileges, not only in the property in which they own, but across our global network of more than 5,500 hotels and resorts worldwide. There’s also untapped potential in a brand like Sofitel, as well as MGallery and Emblems which are respectively our upper upscale and luxury collection brands. That’s an example of where our ability to embrace innovation and to think creatively in terms of how these brands can be translated to and brought to life in a private residential context will serve us well. By 2027, Savills Global Development Consultancy expects 1,100 branded residence projects to be operating globally, from 640 today. So not only has the category grown significantly over the last decade, but we're seeing further acceleration. We will lean into this growth by continuing to innovate with new products, services and offerings.

One last word for us?

JT: As exciting as the last number of years have been for us, we believe that we have only just begun to tap into the potential in terms of helping our partners develop and operate branded residences alongside hotels anchoring mixed-use developments. Our unmatched portfolio of brands and ability to tailor turnkey solutions are now more crucial than ever. As a team, we take pride in the comprehensive support we provide across each phase in the lifecycle of the projects we brand and operate. Our promise in this regard resonates with our development partners and the communities of homeowners we serve – we have been fulfilling this promise for over two decades and we are excited to continue doing so, in an even bigger way, in the decades to come.