Department with maximum utilization on a growth trajectory

The serviced apartment operator ipartment recorded full occupancy and sales at the end of 2022 that exceeded the pre-corona era status. The growth trajectory will be further strengthened and expanded in 2023 through strategic restructuring, new properties, and offerings.

All the properties in the ipartment serviced apartment brand are permanently booked after the Corona period and are above previous highs with an average % occupancy of 93, thus above the market-standard booking rates between 80-90 %. ipartment has been on the market since 2010 and has specialized in business long-stay in the serviced apartment segment. „The demand at all 14 locations is high, with a rising trend. We had calculated a best-case scenario for this and next year, which has already been exceeded,“ rejoices Ralph Stock, Managing Director of ipartment GmbH. Matthias Rincón, also Managing Director of ipartment, adds: „For 2022, sales are within the expected range. In 2023, we consider an target mark of 18-20 percent % revenue growth for the ipartment group to be realistic.“ The ipartment group will generate around 15 million euros in revenue in 2022, with 19 million targeted for next year. This follows the company’s strong expansion course that began in 2019. Three new openings are currently scheduled for 2023. For 2024, the forecast is for two to three new locations.

Broadly-based growth concept

The planned revenue increase will be generated by restructuring processes in pricing and offerings. In addition to a fundamental adjustment of booking prices and price increases for newly opened properties, ipartment will also introduce short- and mid-stay options at selected locations. „Our structure allows us to integrate up to 25 % short-term stays of less than 29 nights,“ explains Matthias Rincón. For this purpose, the two airport locations in Frankfurt am Main („Gateway Gardens“, 177 units) and Berlin-Brandenburg („BER – The Unique“, 156 units), which will open in 2023, as well as the large ipartment building in Braunschweig (120 units), are planned. „Our booking prices remain in the moderate range.“ The price-performance ratio remains very good,” explains Ralph Stock. The founders currently identify Berlin as a special growth market. Here, in addition to the exclusive house near Kurfürstendamm, which opened in the summer of 2022, they will soon be launching two more properties and will be represented with a total of 230 units. Further projects are planned in Munich and Cologne. The city of the cathedral is the home base where ipartment has been established for many years with three houses and a total of 100 serviced apartments. Soon a further large house with approximately 150 business apartments and the corporate headquarters of ipartment is to be built here.

Further quality improvement and new offerings

The digitization of the properties operated by ipartment since 2019 has increased efficiency and the quality of the offerings. This allows many processes to be handled more efficiently and autonomously by the customers, and more time remains for the on-site teams to focus on personal guest service, which is a high priority for ipartment and forms the core of its brand alongside the exceptional design features and specialized business services. For the three properties that will focus on short- and mid-stay stays in the future, ipartment has developed a new breakfast concept that supports guests„ self-sufficiency during shorter stays by allowing them to choose from a prepared breakfast with fresh pastries. In addition, ipartment will in the future offer a mobility concept with in-house electric scooter rental. The pilot project will initially start in 2023 at the “The Unique” property at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.