CORONAVIRUS
COVID-19 Capital Stack Warning
As hoteliers struggle to keep some remnant of their hotels operating, finance advisers issue a caveat emptor. SBA emergency loans are useful in crisis but only if certain elements are in place, says Dave Shah founder of Pineapple Capital Group. Paul Darrow of PHD Financial reminds prospective small-business borrowers the loans will have to be paid back. Both experts say business owners should review their cash flows and ability to take on more risk before signing any new loans or revised financing documents. In Episode 258, Long Live Lodging examines what financial solutions are available to hotel owners during the crisis, including the SBA emergency loan programs.
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Hotel construction eases up on completion timelines
Commercial construction starts dramatically plummeted in April because of the coronavirus crisis, reports Dodge Data & Analytics. In May, commercial starts saw a slight uptick. Hotels under construction when the pandemic hit continue to move forward but contractors are challenged with the unexpected costs of providing workers with personal protection equipment and complying with OSHA’s newly minted health and safety standards. Hotel developers, meantime, are not in a hurry to see projects across the finish line as demand in travel remains low. Long Live Lodging reports about the state of hotel construction as part of our ongoing special report on the coronavirus crisis and its impact on the hotel industry.
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274 | Construction in a Pandemic: Hotel builders face unexpected challenges
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 read more