In the 1960s, Steven Korman pioneered the furnished apartment industry in the United States at the Plaza in Philadelphia. After realizing there was a whole segment of people that weren't being served, those between the daily hotel stay and the annual apartment lease, Steven furnished some of its pie-shaped apartments and began offering flexible leases.
The Kormans continued to break barriers in the industry, enhancing the furnished apartment concept in the 1970s and 1980s at its 23 apartment communities, known as Korman Suites, in the Philadelphia area, offering unparalleled amenities, packages and housekeeping. Features that are considered apartment standards today, such as washers and dryers and wall-to-wall carpeting were innovations championed by Steven Korman in the 1970s.
Korman Communities Inc., with Larry and Brad Korman as co-CEOs, emerged as a stand-alone company in 1995 and continued to evolve the Korman Suites concept, expanding into Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia – resulting in the ARK and AVE brand concepts. In 2005, recognizing an unmet need in major cities for luxury extended stay apartments with hotel services, Korman created a new brand, AKA, with the purchase, renovation, and repositioning of eight high-rise properties in coveted urban areas, including four in midtown Manhattan.
Today, Korman Communities is a fully integrated real estate company with development and management capabilities operating throughout the United States and London with 40 properties and a total valuation of approximately $4.7 billion. The portfolio is comprised of more than 10,000 apartments, rooms and suites in buildings, ranging from suburban garden-style and mid-rise communities to urban high-rise buildings, all operating under two exciting and innovative residential multi-family brands: AKA and AVE.