Developing wellness real estate

Welcome to The Stanza’s In The Room interview series, designed to make you feel like you’ve just had a very satisfying and insightful coffee chat with an industry leader. Paid subscribers get access to these exclusive interviews and can request questions for future guests. Upgrade your subscription here.

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Today's guest is Kane Sarhan, co-founder of The Well, a luxury wellness members club that offers a full suite of amenities and services, from energy healing and acupuncture, to fitness classes and member events. The Well started in NYC and has since expanded to branded residences and offices in Miami, as well as locations at luxury hotels in Connecticut, Costa Rica, and Cabo.

Prior to founding The Well, Kane was the Head of Brand at Starwood Capital Group, where he helped launch 1 Hotels & Homes and the Baccarat Hotel & Residences. If you've been following The Stanza on social media, you'll see that we've been closely tracking how wellness has been evolving from something that was once esoteric to a necessity that increasingly comes in the form of a membership. I wanted to interview Kane specifically because The Well has been expanding their business in creative ways - whether that's developing branded residences or partnering with luxury hotels around the world - and I thought it would be interesting to think about the membership industry beyond a typical social club business.

Interview highlights:

• The Well's founding story and how they survived the pandemic

• The Well's business model and how they make money

• How they approach partnerships with real estate developers and hotel operators

• Deciding which markets to operate in

• The unique challenges of running a wellness space

• Positioning The Well to capture mainstream demand

• Lessons learned from Kane's Starwood days

• Advice for aspiring club entrepreneurs

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