El Segundo-based Vivo Investment Group, which does business as Vivo Living, converts hotel rooms into apartments. The company, which was founded last year, recently announced two additions, bringing its total to 12 acquisitions The newest acquisitions are Vivo Torrance and Vivo Kissimmee.

Vivo Torrance is a 108-unit property at 4111 Pacific Coast Highway in Torrance. Vivo Kissimmee is a 223-unit property in Kissimmee, Fla.

Vivo converts low-demand hotels into affordable housing options for renters. Its units are offered for 10% to 20% below market rents.
 
The company said its model of converting underused real estate instead of doing ground-up construction allows for a lower carbon footprint by not generating emissions associated with construction.

“Vivo aims to reduce traffic, waste and sprawl by carefully selecting each location to be in physical proximity to shopping, markets, entertainment and other necessities,” Dan Norville, founder and chief executive of Vivo Living, said in a statement. “We are reusing buildings versus building ground-up. Adaptive reuse is the most environmentally friendly way of developing; we are basically a building recycling company.”
 
The company now has locations in 10 states and plans to expand further.
When it first launched, Norville told the Business Journal that the combination of a lack of affordable housing, multifamily construction not keeping up with demand, and less travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic made the model viable.The company, he said, was able to “kill two birds with one stone” by finding a better use for hotel rooms and building more affordable units for renters.

Norville is a hotel industry veteran who founded Norcap Real Estate and Development, a real estate investment firm.