From Pie-Shaped Apartments to Pied-à-Terre on Demand: Larry Korman on The Hospitality Mentor

Larry Korman likes to say his office is his car. The Co-CEO of Korman Communities and President of AKA Hotel Residences spends most of his week on a plane, behind the wheel, or walking the floors of his properties, and that ritual says a lot about how this company actually creates value. Korman recently sat down with Steve Turk on The Hospitality Mentor for a wide-ranging talk about family legacy, design, residential real estate, and where AKA goes from here.

In the early 1960s, Larry's father and grandfather built a high-rise on a triangular lot in Center City Philadelphia, and the pie-shaped units inside were a hard sell. Instead of cutting the price, his father furnished a few of them with designers to show what they could become. Guests began asking to rent them for three or four months at a time. As Larry tells it, "my father uncovered an unmet need between the daily stay of a hotel and the annual lease of an apartment." By 1987 the family put a name on it, Korman Suites, the first branded furnished-apartment portfolio in the country. AKA is the highest expression of that same idea today, and 2026 marks 60 years since that first furnished apartment.

For investors and real estate partners, this is where the conversation gets interesting. AKA is not a hospitality company that happens to offer longer stays. It buys entire buildings of luxury condominiums in major markets, transforms them with leading architects and designers, and operates them for stays of a week or longer. Larry calls the result a pied-à-terre on demand, a residence rather than a room, with the comfort and privacy of a fully appointed condominium and the service of an intimate boutique hotel. The economics are what get an investor's attention. "We have revenues like a hotel with expenses like an apartment," Larry says, "which gives a lot more breathing room to the cash flow."

Design drives everything AKA does. The brand has collaborated with some of the most original names in the field. Piero Lissoni and his studio shaped the interiors at Hotel AKA Alexandria and Hotel AKA Nomad, and the Makers also include Meyer Davis, Michael Gabellini, and Jennifer Post. The newer projects carry that thinking forward. In Boston, Selldorf Architects, led by Annabelle Selldorf, turned the former Boston Police Headquarters into Hotel AKA Back Bay, shaping the lobby, the courtyards, and the entry canopies with a restrained, residential feel. A short walk away, Rafael de Cárdenas gave Hotel AKA Boston Common its bold, 1980s-inspired interiors, with guestroom work from the New York studio Studio NA.GI.

Part of what sets AKA apart is a refusal to be all things to all guests. "AKA has always stood for something very specific and special," Larry says. "We're not trying to be everything to everyone." The company has spent sixty years learning how to design, furnish, and operate residences for longer stays, and that kind of experience is difficult to build quickly. Larry refers to this process as "The Evolution of AKA."

There is plenty ahead, and AKA is growing with real momentum. The brand is acquiring iconic buildings in prestigious neighborhoods and transforming them into residences that are unmistakably AKA. The company is expanding across Florida and bringing the concept to Italy, France, and the Middle East, with health and wellness at the center of the experience through Atelier AKA and partners like Technogym. What does not change is the approach that has guided Korman Communities for five generations. Be present at the properties. Know the work that your team is doing. Support your people in all that they do. Build real estate that gets better with age by honoring the founder of Korman Communities, Steven Korman's mantra, "A property can get a day older, or a day better."

Listen to the full episode of The Hospitality Mentor to hear Larry Korman on the origins of AKA, the future of luxury serviced residences, and how Korman Communities keeps building long-term value through design, hospitality, and operational discipline. You can also watch the conversation on YouTube.

ABOUT KORMAN COMMUNITIES

Korman Communities is a fifth-generation, fully integrated real estate company with development, management, financial, and legal capabilities across the U.S. and Europe. Through its AKA brand, Korman invests in and operates best-in-class luxury serviced residences in U.S. gateway and growth markets, serving as an experienced partner to institutions, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. Learn more at korman.com.