Katherine Kennedy

Floating on the edge of San Diego’s vaunted tourism industry, and not tracked by industry data, is a different type of hospitality world: corporate housing.

This is Katherine Kennedy’s world. As the founder of Relocation Coordinates Inc., Kennedy has overseen more than housing arrangements for thousands of visitors, many becoming residents. Those in her care have ranged from Irish technology trainees whose briefing included understanding “Baywatch” is only a television show to a large corporation where some of the executive households transferred here included a secondary move: homes of mistresses. “We found a way to go back to the company and say, ‘You have a main shipment and a secondary shipment you can approve or deny,’” Kennedy says. “They approved it and we had two invoices so the families never saw the second invoice.”

Corporate housing is a residence with furniture, housewares, appliances, telecommunications and other such services, including housekeeping, secured by a corporation. Leased units in luxury apartment complexes often become home for executives with or without their families, for an extended period of time.

Individuals can access the services themselves, with usual minimum required stays of 31 days. Businesses can deal directly with corporate housing providers such as Oakwood, which was known in San Diego for years for its ownership of apartment complexes in Coronado and Pacific Beach but now markets upscale housing across San Diego and around the world.

Kennedy works often with Oakwood as a full-service counselor to the businesses and the individuals being moved or visiting. She typically gets involved early on, especially if relocation is required.

“We are hired to work with these individuals when they are (job) candidates,” she says. “Our job is to deliver them information about the cost of living, the cost of housing, the school situation and help them understand ‘what would your next five years be if you came to San Diego.’ We want to get them to a ‘yes’ (with a potential employer) by providing information that makes sense. The Internet can be very nonspecific. We are very specific.”

Toward that end Kennedy gets to ask questions, in confidence, that would make an HR specialist blush. “We are not assessing people for their skill set,” she says, “we are assessing them for where they are in their lives.”