D.C. native Evens Charles is pouring into the city that helped raise him.
The hotel developer unveiled The Hyatt House Washington DC Downtown Convention Center on O Street.
The Hyatt House is a 10-floor property with 184 rooms, hosting a rooftop lounge and offering city views.
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Charles, the founder and CEO of Frontier Development & Hospitality Group, says this project is “deeply personal” as the new property sits just blocks away from where he grew up.
“I was… raised by a single immigrant teenage mom growing up in the height of the crack epidemic, when the odds were not in my favor,” Charles said.
“Being in this business for the last decade and having hotels in other markets or so, but to be blocks from where I grew up, and putting together a team of all native DC folks that have backgrounds like me to come together and execute on a project like this is extremely appealing, and I’m extremely excited about it,” Charles told 7News.
Charles explained that former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry’s youth program was critical in building lessons for him.
The successful developer emphasized that his team came from humble beginnings like him.
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“My first job was with the Washington Post. I was an 11-year-old boy serving papers. My father figures and my mentors came from my coaches at the Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Club, which gave me the structure and the belief that discipline and teamwork can change the course of life,” Charles said during a press conference.
“I carried those early lessons on with me to Archbishop Carroll High School, and then I went on to Temple University, where I walked on as a football player, and I was fortunate to earn a scholarship and obtain a master’s degree.”
While there are roughly 60,000 hotels in the U.S, less than 2% of Black individuals own them, citing access to capital as a top barrier o breakthrough.
The comparison between the lack of representation and economic power is vastly different.
Although Black individuals own less than 2% of hotels, Black U.S. travelers spend on travel and hospitality, according to CBRE: Global Commercial Real Estate Services.
“At the end of the day, buildings don’t change cities, people do,” Charles added.
“That’s why we focused on these priorities. Opportunity. We prioritize local hiring and creating career pathways with DC residents,” he added.
“I think for us it’s always going to be a great opportunity to invest in what I like about the industry, we need and continue to have more African Americans looking as an investment,” Andy Ingraham, President and Founder of the National Association of Black Hotel Owners, Operators & Developers (NABHOOD), told 7News.