Site of Jack DeBoer’s first Residence Inn becomes his latest new development

Developer Jack DeBoer is opening a new kind of residential space near Kellogg and Main Street where 45 years ago he opened his first Residence Inn hotel.

He went on to create 103 hotels in the chain before selling to Marriott in 1987. Most recently, 711 S. Main St. has been DeBoer’s Hotel at WaterWalk.

Now, he’s converting it to Main Street Residences, an 88-unit apartment complex.

“The coronavirus really prompted us to transition to residences,” said Mimi Rogers, president of WaterWalk International.

Rogers said the company was already trying to rethink the property — whether to upgrade it, find a new hotel brand or convert it to a new use — when the pandemic hit.

“Occupancies dropped to the lowest we’ve seen them in our portfolio ever,” she said.

Rogers said DeBoer has a strong background in the multifamily sector.

“He knows how to run it.”

Also, she said, the two-level property “has the layout and style that we felt that was really perfect for a multifamily property.”

DeBoer also owns the nearby WaterWalk Hotel Apartments, which are more mid-to-upper-level apartments at 411 W. Maple.

Rogers said that property has remained stable throughout the pandemic.

The new apartments will range from $720 to $810 a month for unfurnished units. There are 24 furnished corporate units — Rogers said the best furniture from the hotel was selected for those — that range from $890 to $910.

“Downtown, there is definitely a lack in that specific area . . . (for) that value level or economy level,” Rogers said.

Units are 400 to 600 square feet.

Rogers said part of the inspiration for the conversion is the dozens of other former Residence Inns nationally that also have been converted to apartments.

“There’s been a lot of success stories with that.”

The Wichita property has free laundry, a clubhouse, a business center, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, a picnic area and an area for dog walking.

For nostalgic reasons, DeBoer kept his first Residence Inn even after selling to Marriott. In 1999, he converted the property to a Cambridge Suites and then opened the Hotel at WaterWalk as a boutique hotel — his first — in 2010.

The Main Street Residences name came partly from the street it’s on, Rogers said, and also “just to honor and stay true to . . . the history and legacy of that property as the first inn that Jack ever built.”