CONSTRUCTION
274 | Construction in a Pandemic: Hotel builders face unexpected challenges
CONSTRUCTION
In the first quarter of this year, more than 140 new hotels opened in the U.S., reported Lodging Econometrics.
In March, the U.S. had 150,000 rooms under construction, said STR. It’s the highest end-of-month total the company has reported.
Jan Freitag, senior vice president of lodging insights at STR, said he expects hotel construction to continue throughout the year. But because of the low customer demand caused by the coronavirus crisis, hotel developers are not in a rush to open and projects will spend more time in construction.
Also impacting the timelines are the availability of building materials due to supply chain disruptions and challenges in finding skilled laborers who want to work during a pandemic.
This episode of Lodging Leaders podcast looks at the current state of hotel construction and explores what the future might hold with regard to new development in the shadow of COVID-19. We interviewed construction company executives and hotel developers to get an idea of the challenges they’re facing in getting a job completed and opened.
Resources and Links
- Larry Spelts of The Indigo Road Hospitality Group
- Azim Saju of Hotel Development and Management Group
- Bill Wilhelm of R.D. Olson Construction
- Stephanie Hall of DAG Construction
- Next Generation in Lodging webinar
CONSTRUCTION
-
303 | Hotel Tech Goes Viral: COVID pandemic forces industry to modernize operations
The coronavirus pandemic is forcing hoteliers to deploy new technology to run more cost-efficient businesses and to ensure customers that properties are safe by providing such services as contactless check in and mobile key. Long Live Lodging explores how the COVID-19 outbreak has invigorated hotels’ adoption of tech solutions and looks at what types of products owners and operators are investing in during the coronavirus crisis and for the post-pandemic era. This report is part of Long Live Lodging’s ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.
-
302 | Value Judgment: Hotel asset pricing in COVID-19 age is different from previous recessions
Hotel appraisers and brokers expect distressed assets to come to market as the pandemic recession continues into 2021. Analysts say billions of dollars in private equity are waiting in the wings to acquire hotels underperforming as a result of the coronavirus crisis. But pricing will be different than in previous economic downturns. While a transaction may be distressed, it will not necessarily reflect distress pricing,” said Daniel Lesser of LW Hospitality Advisors. Long Live Lodging explores the state of hotel values as well as what may lie ahead with regard to transactions in 2021 as the spread of COVID-19 continues to stifle lodging performance. This report is part of our ongoing coverage of the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hospitality industry.