Larry Korman on Redefining Luxury Living & Building the AKA Brand

In this episode of Uncorked: Wine, Business & Life, Bill Green and Jerrold Colton sit down in the Saddlehill Winery Barrel Room with Larry Korman, President of Korman Communities and Co-CEO of AKA. Larry shares the remarkable story of his family’s century-long legacy in real estate, the evolution of AKA’s luxury extended-stay brand, and how design, service, and attention to detail create unforgettable guest experiences. From balancing heritage with innovation to collaborating with world-class architects, Larry reveals what it takes to stand out in hospitality today.

Introduction and Early Connections

Welcome to Uncorked: Wine, Business, and Life with Bill Green. I'm Jerrold Colton, Bill Green's co-host. Bill, we are in your spectacular Beau Room at Saddlehill Winery in Voorhees, New Jersey. It is a little chilly in here, but I keep the wines cool. We have another great special guest and somebody you go way, way back with.

This is my good friend, Larry Korman. Larry and I met—I can't pinpoint the exact year, but it was the late 80s. Larry's family is in the real estate and apartment business. That's how we met; my first company was a vendor to Korman Communities.

I have to talk about the lesson Larry taught me right out of the gate. I am about five years older than Larry. I think Larry was about 24 or 25, and here I am 30, thinking I’m really starting to get cool and savvy and know how to manage people. While I thought I was doing all the right things, here is this young guy, a few years out of college at Duke. We walk into his maintenance shop at the Presidential Apartments on Cityline Avenue in Philadelphia, and he treated the janitor like he was his Chief Operating officer. To me, that was one of the biggest lessons I learned in my entire life. He is the same way today. We’ve walked down Walnut Street together, and he bends over to a street person who's not asking for money and says, "Hey buddy, you okay? Here's 10 bucks." He just treats people really well. It’s such an important part of your success, Larry. I met your dad and other family members before we met, and then you jumped on the scene and took everything to the next level.

Company Culture and Family Values

The culture and character, at the end of the day, is all you have. It's your reputation as a company, professionally and personally. They do blend together. Everything I’ve done emanates from my mom and dad. The hallmark of what they were both about was treating others the way in which you would want to be treated. My father had a strong work ethic. I started working at age ten, picking up trash and cleaning toilets. A lot of the people in the maintenance shop and housekeeping were people I became friendly with and knew well. I got to learn all the different aspects, not just the parts of the business you need to know, but the nuances of how to deal with people.

I dealt with a lot of different people outside of our organization, and you were by far the most charismatic and competent. There was an obvious direction you were headed, and you did it in such a beautiful way. We used to go to those national apartment associations together. Bill and I had fun because we were passionate about what we were doing. We also knew when the fun stopped and when to get a good night's sleep. We were the only two people at breakfast. Everybody else would be at lunch and dinner and drinks, but we bonded at those events. We became really good friends because we shared ethics and morals. It wasn't about making the last dollar; it was about doing the right thing the right way and building a company that lasted with people we cared about.

The Legacy of Korman Communities

Maybe it was because we actually had wives. That's why we weren't at the bar at 4:00 in the morning. Within the provincial setting of Philadelphia, Korman had a strong name. It emanated from Hyman Korman, who was a farmer and a dressmaker. He met his wife, and she really created the first Airbnb. She would save money to buy the farmland they were running out of. Hyman, with his two sons, started cultivating the land. One son became an architect, and the other son, my grandfather, became an engineer. They started building row homes around 1913. By the 30s, they really were rolling. They built a total of about 30,000 homes, mostly row homes in Northeast Philly along Roosevelt Boulevard. When the Depression hit, they didn't throw people out. They didn't make them pay or knock on doors like the traditional landlord. They worked with everybody because they were a part of the community. They built the schools, the church, and the synagogue. These were people they cared about. It established a commitment to quality, but also to the way in which they treated their neighbors and the people who worked for them. There was something to live up to as the third generation. It started as home builders, then my grandfather and my father as apartment developers. Then my dad pioneered the furnished apartment out of the last building he and his dad had built. It was a circular high-rise in Philadelphia with pie-shaped apartments.

The Birth of Furnished Apartments

Some great creations are by mistake. They built the circular building because they had a triangular lot. It took a long time to build because of the church next door. They didn't want us drilling six feet down. My grandfather gave Cardinal Krol, who wasn't Cardinal at the time, a handshake. They did it the old-fashioned way. When they opened in 1966, nobody wanted a pie-shaped apartment. People would come in and say, "I’ll take your model. I’m in town for three or four months and I need that." My father recognized an unmet need between the daily stay of a hotel and the annual lease of an apartment. He decided to furnish more. He met Mark Luber from IFR and asked if he could rent furniture. He said, "I can’t sign a one-year commitment. I’ll just pay you as they stay." They started running them out and recognized there was this untapped market. They realized that in apartment communities where they overbuilt or overpaid, they could add 10 or 20 furnished apartments to bring up the revenues to help offset higher construction costs.

Branding and Marketing Korman Suites

It didn’t really have a name at first. When I entered the fray, I had done business classes at Duke, and one was on synergy. It was the idea that the whole could be more worthwhile than the individual parts. At the time, every property had its own name, like Willow Shores or Marshalwood. Everyone did their own advertising and logos, and they would compete against each other. My first role was walking all the "make-readies" for the first year. The second was to consolidate all the expenses. The last expense was marketing. I saw we were spending about $1.8 million between 23 properties. Back then, there was no cable or internet. That was a lot of money for the Bucks County Courier Times. One would do six ads, another would do eight, and it made no sense.

I decided to consolidate. I taught my dad to allow me to hire a marketing firm. He introduced me to Sandra Levitt. They had done the "We Owe You One" for the Sixers and "A Dollar and a Dream" for the lottery. We changed the name to Korman Suites because that was a name we could trademark. I remember writing the first commercial. We were doing radio, and my uncle had told me about Howard Stern. I didn't know who he was. I wrote this commercial and sent it to his office. He was coming to 94.1 WYSP. I was in Boca visiting my wife’s family, and they sent the tape to me. I thought, "This is not what I wrote." He went completely ad-lib. They told me that’s how he connects. We did TV commercials, we dominated the newspaper, and we dominated billboards. We got the guidebooks from Georgia and North Carolina to come up to Philadelphia. We added romance to apartment living. The message was simple: twice the space of a hotel at half the cost. If you’re coming to town for a month or longer, this is the way to stay.

Personal Persistence and Hard Work

Everybody knew it in Philadelphia. Even to this day, though we stopped doing that in 1994 when Brad and I formed our own company, people still know Korman Suites. Other national players like Oakwood followed. Steve Korman was first, and Howard Ruby was a great guy too. My mom actually had a relationship with their West Coast office where we would send business to them. Besides your education from Duke, you came back north with something else: a wife. I guess we were 19 and 20 when we met. I knew immediately. She still had a five-year boyfriend. I remember introducing my mom to her in Boca, and I said, "See that girl on the beach with that really big guy with his arms around her? That's her." My mom said, "I think we need to speak." I played the long game and persevered. Early on, we connected. She came to Philadelphia after she graduated, right behind me, but she didn't understand the commitment I had made. I didn't want to be known as somebody who got the job because of my name. I worked seven days a week. I went to bed early and got up early. Every morning that alarm went off at 6:00, I put on my blue suit, white shirt, and red tie and went to work. I was not a good boyfriend when she first came to Philly. After a year, she left and went back to Florida.

Quality and Craftsmanship at Saddlehill

That's a great point. Larry came from a family that was already successful, but he worked harder than anyone else. Even now, when I call him to get together, he's in London or LA. This guy is not giving up. I think there are a lot more tricks in Larry’s bag coming out that we don’t even know about. This first wine is the first reserve wine that Saddlehill Winery made. It’s from our 2022 grapes. It’s a classic Bordeaux blend, our Vintner’s Reserve. We think it’s still way too young, but I want to know what you think. It's delicious. I just need a pizza with it. I’ll never forget, maybe ten years ago when Saddlehill Winery wasn't even a dream, AKA had their own private label wine. You brought a bottle and I wondered what Pennsylvania wine would taste like. Larry would never put bad wine in a bottle with his name on it. It speaks to the quality of everything you do. Go into an AKA lobby; it is first class. Even the apartments were always a step above.

Elevating the AKA Hospitality Experience

Our wine program actually started when our chef at a.kitchen was in a train accident and was paralyzed. We were trying to raise money, and he was very fond of wine. We created a.vin Chardonnay and a.vin at Korman and had an event. We had all the top chefs and raised about $330,000. We recognized that we were not matching the need of what we created with a.kitchen food and beverage. We had to elevate our game. We now get our a.vin Chardonnay from France, our a.vin from Northern Italy, and we just launched Agave Tequila from Western Mexico. We stopped the red because it stained the carpets. But the a.vin Meritage now is the Korman House. The reason we’re in Wine Enthusiast's Top 100 wine restaurants every year is because they are all boutique wines. None of the places we find produce more than a thousand bottles. They’re all organic and natural. We have elevated the program in New York with Pascaline Lepeltier, who is our wine director. She is well known and has a new book coming out. She curated a wine list for us at our a.lounge and bar. Death & Co did all our cocktail lists, like a.cocktail. Each property is unique in its architecture and design, but they all stand for something specific. It’s not just a hotel chain. It’s within the hospitality arena, but you look at every facet—the decorating, the furniture, the guest experience—and you work to make it special.

Attention to Detail and Strategic Growth

They say the devil is in the details, but I think the angels are in the details. You have to sweat those details. There’s a look and a feel you want, and a way you want people to treat your guests. Our first AKA wasn't even called AKA; it was at Rittenhouse Square. All the money they gave me, I spent on the sub-basement. Not even the basement, the sub-basement. I was cleaning up the smell, wrapping things, and making it energy efficient. The bank was furious. They said, "We gave you all this money and you spent it in the sub-basement." Then they gave me more money and I spent it in the basement to make a great room for the team members to change and eat lunch. They finally said the next money was earmarked for the lobby. We bought that building for about $8 million. It was the first building Brad and I had done on our own. When we left the family company, Brad was graduating from Wharton. I was the General Director of the 23 apartment communities. We didn't like being paid based on our age. It wasn't taking into consideration responsibility or performance. That is why a lot of family companies don’t make it past the second generation.

We didn't have any money, so we got a loan from the bank. My dad helped us get the debt. Then we asked the bank for a loan on the equity. Our first property was Waterview in East Goshen Township. It cost next to nothing. I was there six days a week, made it unbelievable, and did great landscaping. We did well enough to bring a partner into the Rittenhouse Square project. I remember the first time I heard the words "curb appeal." Korman spent more on landscaping than anyone. That was my dad; he was a nut with landscaping. I understood the "nut" part that I bring to other elements of design. We could be in some of the worst locations in Philadelphia and have the greatest landscaping. That mattered.

Wine Travels and Celebrity Connections

This next wine is a 1995 Château Haut-Brion, one of the five bigs from Bordeaux. It’s going to be earthy. First one, I needed a pizza. This one, a nice bowl of pasta. In your world travels, do you get to visit vineyards? We actually created a program at AKA Beverly Hills with the CEO of Airstream. You would get the largest Airstream, and Corinne and I were the guinea pigs for her 50th birthday. We set up all these vineyards in Santa Barbara and Malibu. We got to the second vineyard and Corinne was not having a great time. I called up Wayne Newton. We were using his Casa de Shenandoah for something, and I asked if we could come earlier. He said, "Get on a plane." We flew there, left the Airstream parked, and ended our wine trip. He put us in Casa de Shenandoah all to ourselves. He took us to an old-school Italian restaurant, and we had Pia Zadora and all these other people singing Happy Birthday to Corinne. We did start a wine program where you could stay in a mobile AKA suite at these vineyards, but it never went beyond that. I hope she wound up enjoying her 50th birthday. She will tell you it ended up being a great birthday. It was a way to salvage things after I burnt my hand with the stinky slinky because I wasn't listening. I was holding a frozen bottle of wine to my hand. It was much more fun with Wayne. We’ve been friends with Wayne and Kat for 25 years.

The Intersection of Film and Community

One of Larry's passions is film. He’s invited me to multiple events. I remember one five or six years ago where Larry was with Bradley Cooper in Philadelphia. Bradley and I had the same favorite teacher. He invited us the day before his 40th birthday to Elephant Man and put us front row. Film is important because there’s so much divisiveness right now. It’s an accessible way to get people to put their feet into somebody else’s shoes and see how someone else is dealing with life for two hours. It was a way to bring people in North Philly into the theater to converse. It was also a way for us as a company to thank the group that really made us: production films. When we had four properties in New York, nobody knew who AKA was. The recession hit in 2008. It was out of vogue to say you're staying at the Plaza or the St. Regis. We met the need for luxury and value. It was really the production companies—Kaufman Astoria and Steiner Studios—that gave us all this business. If anything was being filmed in the city, they were staying with us for the anonymity. They liked having a kitchen. When COVID hit, we became self-sufficient sanctuaries. While hotels closed their doors, we were wide open. People wanted a kitchen where they could cook and a living room where they could work. Because of that, we added cinemas and created film productions. Each year we produce a film about one person going against the grain to help others. Our first one was *The Barefoot Artist* about Lily Yeh. I got involved with Tribeca, became chair of the Philadelphia Film Society, and got involved with student films at BAFTA in LA. It’s about helping people and bringing community together.

Philanthropy and Supporting CHOP

My favorite thing right now is CHOP. I was on the boards for Penn Design and Drexel, but I’ve dropped those for CHOP. I'm on three different things there. I’m co-chair of networking with Dalila Wilson-Scott from Comcast. I love what they’re doing. We helped produce a film about an innovative doctor who took stomach cancer from killing 90% of people 50 years ago down to 10%, and also created the first Ronald McDonald House. CHOP is the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and it’s one of the great facilities anywhere. Madeline Bell is one of the best leaders in the country. She is a force.

High-Profile Guests and Anonymity

This last wine is a 2004 Screaming Eagle. It's 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. This bottle is direct from the winery. They are about $1,500 direct now, but this specific wine is now worth about $6,700 a bottle. I actually am... that is fabulous. It's worth it. With you and Corinne, were you ever asked to be in any movie projects? Richard Gere always stayed with us at AKA Sutton Place, and we became really good friends. Diane Keaton is another one. They were adamant about anonymity, so we would never be self-serving, but they would tell people about us. Diane got us landscape architects and was very helpful in building the business. But we always kept it separate. There was a film done about ten years ago called *Paranoia* that stayed with us at AKA Rittenhouse Square. We had Miley Cyrus there because her husband was in it, along with Amber Heard. The director wanted to use our house. M. Night Shyamalan would ask on some, but we never did that. We kept the line between the people staying with us and our personal involvement. A producer friend, Scott Lambert, asked if they could use my house for a helicopter scene. I said, "Let me introduce you to Dennis Alter. His home is much better for this." Dennis still does not forgive me because they damaged a lot of furniture.

Global Expansion and Future Leadership

Larry is not slowing down. He’s been in Nashville, Seattle, Louisiana, Boston, New York, D.C., Virginia, Philly, Miami, Italy, and London—all in the last three weeks. We are looking to take this concept of serviced residences to the next level globally and bring in a partner that creates synergy. He is exactly the same guy I met years ago. He’s taken that passion and love of people and made it contagious. Nicholas just celebrated his 39th anniversary with the company today. We were talking at lunch about how much fun we’ve had. Kathy has been there 51 years. When I was in London, she texted me saying she would come out of retirement if I got something cool in London. I want what’s great for my team. Megan, who is operating our a.vin in Tampa Bay, has left us twice for great opportunities, and each time she came back with more knowledge. It’s her graduate school. You want the best for your team members. My son Alec is 30 and is now working with me. He blew me away with what he set up in London. He worked several years for a crypto company where you get a call at 2:00 a.m. and get your ass handed to you. That brings a dynamic perspective.

The Influence of Design and Team Loyalty

I always knew from age ten that I was working with my dad. I love design because I grew up in a Louis Kahn house. I met global architects and designers from all over the world. Even before my parents would wake up in our first house, I’d move furniture around. I love the idea of providing a home for someone. I started working at age ten doing toilets, landscaping, whatever I could do. I had a passion for it. You see the circle of life. If you make a great "make-ready," it’s easier to lease. If you provide great service, it’s easier to retain. Housekeeping is critical. They are going into someone’s residence. Twenty years ago when we first went to New York, I heard stories about Local 6 and the union. I remember the first time I walked into Peter Ward’s office. I said, "The elevator is slow and the lobby is horrible. You’re the head of a hotel union; you can't do better?" He asked, "Did you come here to break my balls or meet with me?" I told him his team members were my family and I wasn't happy with how things were. We became really good friends. I gave him some logo cufflinks, and he didn't have anything to give me, so I asked for his diamond cufflinks. Anytime I met with him after that, I would wear them just to piss him off. Rich Maroko took over when he left, and we are really good friends too. I recognize that those individuals are well-trained and critical to our operations.

Advice for Entrepreneurs and Future Plans

I think I finally convinced Larry to be down at the shore on weekends. We also raised a fund with a group from Tel Aviv and the UAE. We raised $750 million because we had an innovative approach to hospitality. We were going to buy iconic hotels and reimagine them. Part of the deal was being in Palm Beach for the winter months. We bought a property at The Bristol West Palm. I'm near Bal Harbour. That place is dangerous with traffic. We actually bought a place in Hillsboro, so we’ll be there in a year. My restaurant, Double Knot, just opened in Miami with Michael Schulson, and it’s killing it. We’re opening in Manhattan before the end of the year. If I have to pick one piece of advice for entrepreneurs, it’s a lesson from my father: work backwards. What do you want to accomplish? What are the points to get there? What bottom line do you need? If you can conceive it, you can achieve it. You need clarity on the end goal. What are the fixed expenses, the variable expenses, the rate, and the occupancy? That is the number you need to get to. If you just see what occupancy you can get and then see what’s left, you’ll never hit the pinpoint. You need a target, a bullseye. Then you can go back and shoot the arrow. I saw how hard you worked and how focused you were. You made it fun, but you were very driven. I like to talk about family business because it's important that your kid works for somebody else before they work for the family. They need to know what it’s like to have a boss and not a father.

Closing Thoughts

Larry, your passion is infectious. It sounds like you are doing some of the greatest stuff in your career right now. Thank you for joining us. On behalf of the proprietor of Saddlehill Winery and the namesake of this podcast, Bill Green, I’m Jerrold Colton. Thanks for listening to Uncorked. We’ll see you next time.