Airbnb is partnering with Newgard Development Group, a Miami-based housing developer, to build a 324-unit home-sharing friendly housing community in Kissimmee, Fla. Set to open next year, this is the first housing development Airbnb is helping design from scratch, and will include features like keyless entry and shared common spaces.
Why it matters: This is an extension of Airbnb's Friendly Building program, through which the company is appealing to landlords and developers to allow home-sharing in their buildings — in exchange for visibility into the tenants' home-sharing activities. Airbnb has faced criticism from landlords who feel they've lost control over their properties by not being able to keep tabs on their tenants' short-term rental activity. But multi-family housing makes up to half of Airbnb listings in some major cities, according to Airbnb director of global multifamily housing partnerships Jaja Jackson. .