Would You Invest in an Airbnb-Friendly Condo-Hotel in Columbus, OH? Investor & STR...

Question

A growing trend in cities like Miami, Nashville, and Tampa is the development of Airbnb-friendly condo-hotels, where individual investors purchase units in buildings with permitted hotel use. These developments often start as hotels but later convert to condominiums while maintaining their STR-friendly zoning, meaning no short-term rental permits are required.

One of the most well-known examples is Icon Brickell Tower 3 (Viceroy Tower) in Miami, which has a mix of:

• Owner-occupied units
• Developer-managed hotel units
• Individually owned investment condos available for STR

What makes this model attractive to investors?
✔ Low cost of entry per unit compared to traditional multifamily or single-family STRs
✔ Perpetual hotel zoning, reducing regulatory risks
✔ On-site management, allowing passive investment while maintaining hotel-style services

While this model is popular in high-tourism cities, it raises the question: Could a market like Columbus, OH support this type of investment?

Columbus is experiencing rapid growth, with increasing corporate travel, tech expansions (Intel, Amazon, Google), and rising demand for STRs. However, it is not a major leisure tourism market like Miami or Nashville. Cities like Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Toledo may not have the demand to support this model, but Columbus might as the strongest market in the state, the state capital, and fastest growing city in the Midwest.

Looking for investor and operator feedback:🏡 STR investors – Would you invest in this model in a non-tourism-driven market? What factors would influence your decision?📊 STR property managers – How do smaller studio units (200-300 sq. ft.) perform in Columbus? Would extended stay/hybrid units make sense?🏗️ Developers & lenders – How do you see financing and exit strategies for condo-hotel investments in secondary markets?📍 Ohio-based investors – Where do you see the strongest STR demand in Columbus?

Would love to hear investor perspectives—do you think this model could work in Columbus, or is it better suited for larger tourism-driven markets?

John Underwood · Answer

I'm not a fan of condos and even less a fan of codo-hotels.

I stay away from HOA properties in general.

Michael Baum · Answer

I am in the nope camp. I haven't been to Columbus for years so I am not really privy to the market there but I generally stay away from condo's and condotel's seem like something I would never stay in let alone buy into.

Jon Martin · Answer

I dunno, while a great market from a general investing standpoint, I’m not sure the revenues/ADRs in Columbus are strong enough to handle a 40%+ management fee haircut.

Bill B. · Answer

The Vegas version I looked in to a decade ago took a 50% Managment and doubled the monthly  HOA fee if you spent more than 2 weeks there. (Or it wasn’t available for them to rent out for more than 2 weeks in any given year.) They basically wanted to rent out hotel rooms you paid for. (The platinum off the strip next to Ellis island.)

Ps. I looked it up to see if anything changed. The HOA fees are $720-$1,700 and it’s “only” an extra $750/mo fee, not necessarily double, if you live there. And you can do that for 60 days per year now. I couldn’t find a definitive management fee.

It’s like a condo at MGM except you can never convert it to a primary residence. So you lose 80% of your buyers. That does help keep the price down, a little, but that’s because it keeps the appreciation down.

Mike Grudzien · Answer

Would I?  First and foremost, it's all in the numbers.  Then there's that HOA thing...

Andrew Steffens · Answer

Personally I would only even consider this (aside from not being a fan of condos and even less of condotels) in very tourism forward cities.  I am admittedly ignorant on Columbus but I am pretty sure it does not put up the tourism numbers of Miami and Tampa.

Robert Ellis · Answer

not even close to the tourism that these cities get. but then again the price point of a lot of investors is around 200k or less for ohio that I talk to out of state so you have to wonder

Jon Martin · Answer

That's cool, assuming that the contract states that they can't raise the percentage later, which I doubt.

I ran numbers on a Condotel in Myrtle where the purchase price was in the low-to-mid $200s at the time but the fees were 40-50%. Even with $60K revenue the take home was maybe $500-600/month. Plus there were all kinds of rules about who gets to use which amenities, front desk assistance, towels etc. The only way I would ever agree to it if the guests were treated the same as everyone else which again, they can most likely change their policies on at any time.

Robert Ellis · Answer

most developer managed condos don't take that much and most of these are very small units with on site management and house keeping already. economies of scale get lowered when you have on site staff already. that would never be the management fee in a developer owned and managed unit. it's much lower

Would You Invest in an Airbnb-Friendly Condo-Hotel in Columbus, OH? Investor & STR...

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