Key Takeaways
- • Damon Healey, founder and managing principal of Eternal Companies, transitioned from commercial real estate generalist to hotel-focused investor after early exposure to hospitality development and a transformative role at Brookfield Asset Management managing extended-stay properties.
- • Healey's experience managing Brookwood Hotels' acquisition and development of 100 WoodSpring Suites properties in partnership with Starwood Capital and franchise agreements with Choice Hotels International provided the operational blueprint for his current venture.
- • Eternal Companies, founded in 2023, has acquired and repositioned two hotels in secondary Georgia markets (Columbus and Macomb), converting both properties to Choice Hotels' Suburban Studios brand, validating the extended-stay economy hotel thesis in smaller markets.
- • Secondary and tertiary markets represent a viable investment thesis for economy-segment hotels, a key insight Healey extracted from his institutional tenure and now applies to his proprietary investment strategy.
- • Healey's career arc demonstrates how specialized skill sets in team-building, site selection, entitlements, and vendor management in real estate development translate effectively into hotel asset acquisition and repositioning at smaller scale.
Summary
Damon Healey's professional pivot into hospitality investment illustrates how operational expertise in commercial real estate can anchor success in specialized subsectors. Originally positioning himself as a "commercial real estate guy," Healey lacked initial hospitality focus but gained early exposure through a failed hotel development project in Washington, D.C. that sparked his interest in the lodging sector, according to his appearance on the "Next Gen in Lodging" Podcast.
The inflection point in Healey's career came during his tenure at Brookfield Asset Management, when the firm prepared to acquire 100 WoodSpring Suites hotels in partnership with Starwood Capital. Despite limited hospitality background, Healey possessed complementary skill sets in lending, feasibility analysis, and site selection. His core competency—assembling multidisciplinary teams across architecture, engineering, brokerage, and construction management to execute development at scale—aligned with Brookfield's expansion objectives. This led to his assignment developing an additional 50 WoodSpring Suites franchise agreements with Choice Hotels International through Brookwood Hotels, Brookfield's hospitality platform.
The extended-stay property segment proved foundational to Healey's investment thesis. Operating within secondary and tertiary markets emerged as a critical insight from his institutional work, one he has since validated through proprietary deployment. In 2023, Healey founded Eternal Companies and deployed capital to acquire two hotels in smaller Georgia markets—Columbus and Macomb—converting both properties to Choice Hotels' Suburban Studios brand. This strategy reflects confidence in economy extended-stay models in markets typically overlooked by larger institutional investors, differentiating his approach from capital-intensive urban and upscale segments.
Healey's trajectory underscores how specialized skill sets in real estate development—particularly team assembly, vendor selection, and municipal entitlements—transfer effectively to hotel acquisition and repositioning strategies at smaller transaction sizes, enabling independent operators to compete in underserved geographic segments.
The inflection point in Healey's career came during his tenure at Brookfield Asset Management, when the firm prepared to acquire 100 WoodSpring Suites hotels in partnership with Starwood Capital. Despite limited hospitality background, Healey possessed complementary skill sets in lending, feasibility analysis, and site selection. His core competency—assembling multidisciplinary teams across architecture, engineering, brokerage, and construction management to execute development at scale—aligned with Brookfield's expansion objectives. This led to his assignment developing an additional 50 WoodSpring Suites franchise agreements with Choice Hotels International through Brookwood Hotels, Brookfield's hospitality platform.
The extended-stay property segment proved foundational to Healey's investment thesis. Operating within secondary and tertiary markets emerged as a critical insight from his institutional work, one he has since validated through proprietary deployment. In 2023, Healey founded Eternal Companies and deployed capital to acquire two hotels in smaller Georgia markets—Columbus and Macomb—converting both properties to Choice Hotels' Suburban Studios brand. This strategy reflects confidence in economy extended-stay models in markets typically overlooked by larger institutional investors, differentiating his approach from capital-intensive urban and upscale segments.
Healey's trajectory underscores how specialized skill sets in real estate development—particularly team assembly, vendor selection, and municipal entitlements—transfer effectively to hotel acquisition and repositioning strategies at smaller transaction sizes, enabling independent operators to compete in underserved geographic segments.
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