Where are the Workers? Hotels Still Struggling with Staffing Shortages

The pandemic continues to hit the hospitality industry hard, with nearly all hotels across the country now struggling with staffing shortages.

According to a new survey by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, 87% of respondents said that they are suffering through a staffing shortage. A total of 36% of survey respondents said that their staffing shortages were severe ones.

The position hotels are struggling the most to fill? Housekeepers, with 43% of respondents saying they were having a difficult time finding enough cleaning staff for their facilities.

Those numbers are slightly better than in May, when the lodging association found that 97% of respondents faced a staffing shortage.

Hotels are taking steps to fill their staffing vacancies. The association says that 81% of survey respondents said that they have increased wages, while 64% said they are offering their workers more flexible hours and 35% have expanded their benefits.

Survey respondents said that they are trying to fill an average of 10.3 open positions per property, down from 12 vacancies in May’s survey.

The average hotel wage across the nation for 2022 through June are more than $22 per hour, higher than any other year on record. Since the pandemic, average hotel wages have increased faster than average wages throughout the general economy, according to the lodging association.

“Today’s tight labor market is creating unprecedented career opportunities for current and prospective hotel employees,” said Chip Rogers, president and chief executive officer with the American Hotel & Lodging Association.

Texas Office Rebound is One of the Strongest, but What’s Going on with Houston?

Texas’ office market has proven itself to be one of the strongest in the U.S. The market has continued to reflect positive trends throughout its post-pandemic recovery, though the numbers differ slightly from city to city.

Houston, for example? Vacancy and availability continue to rise, despite office brokers reporting increased activity and leased commitments. To break it down, Partners recently analyzed the area’s activity during the first eight months of the year — August 2022 compared to August 2021.

Houston Office Vacancy at 25.5%

Overall vacancy was at 25.5% in August 2022, based on the report, up 100 basis points from last year’s 24.5%. Availability was nearly 30%, up 80 basis points from August 2021. Partners said the difference between this figure and the vacancy rate reflects expected future move-outs. Houston has recorded 9.3 million square feet of leasing activity of both new leases and renewals, which is down 13% from the 10.7 million square feet recorded at this time last year. Net absorption is at negative 100,000 square feet, up from negative 2.2 million square feet year-over-year. In addition, the amount of construction underway is at 2.5 million square feet — down almost 30% from last year. Click to read more at www.rednews.com.

Reshoring Providing yet Another Boost to Industrial Market

Need more proof that the U.S. industrial market is still in boom mode? Just take a look at the September National Industrial Report from CommercialEdge.

According to the report, the country’s industrial sales volume hit $57.6 billion during the first eight months of this year. And in August, the industrial vacancy rate fell 30 basis points when compared to July, dropping to a low 4.1%.

One of the reasons for industrial’s current hot streak? CommercialEdge points to the reshoring. As the company’s report says, during the pandemic, U.S. manufacturers realized that making good abroad came with risks. Today, then, many businesses are reshoring the production of their goods to the United States. The semiconductor industry in particular is already beginning this process.

Congress and Pres. Biden this summer signed the CHIPS Act into law. This act allocates $53 billion in funding to support the domestic manufacturing of semiconductors. The government’s Inflation Reduction Act includes incentives to encourage companies to produce renewable energy products in the United States.

According to numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more workers in the U.S. manufacturing sector now than at any time since 2008. This sector’s employment growth has been higher than 3% year-over-year every month in 2022.

With the added boost of reshoring, then, it’s little surprise that the country’s industrial market continues to thrive. CommercialEdge reported that national in-place rents for industrial space averaged $6.64 a foot in August, a jump of four cents from July and an increase of 5.5% during the last 12 months.

Construction crews are racing to meet the demand for new industrial supply, with 703.5 million square feet of industrial space now under construction across the country, according to CommercialEdge. This pipeline of new construction continues to grow despite concerns over rising interest rates and inflation.

Central Texas Commercial Association of REALTORS® Partners with MyEListing.com

AUSTIN , TEXAS, September 26, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — The Central Texas Commercial Association of REALTORS® (CTCAR) has partnered with commercial real estate technology platform, MyEListing.com, to upgrade and improve their commercial real estate listing software.

MyEListing.com’s software provides a comprehensive suite of broker-focused digital services to CTCAR, including but not limited to enhanced market data collection, property marketing, and other broker tools.

“In fulfilling our continued mission to provide valuable products, programs, and services to the greater Central Texas commercial real estate community,” says Jake Bellonzi, CTCAR Board of Directors, “CTCAR is pleased to announce our partnership with MyElisting.com, and offer their comprehensive suite of services through our website. MyElisting.com is truly a platform designed by brokers and for brokers, and we are proud to have them aboard.”

“Partnering with CTCAR is a privilege,” says Caleb Richter, CEO of MyEListing.com, “and their leadership team has made the relationship smooth and very efficient. It is clear they want the best for their members, and the CRE space as a whole. We are proud they have allowed us to provide the software they use to display their listings on their website. Onward and upward!” Click to read more at www.einnews.com.

Nation’s Top MOB Markets Include Texas and the Midwest, and They Just Keep Growing

Medical office buildings (MOBs) have proven to be a resilient asset class through the pandemic. That’s because most tenants require these spaces to treat patients in person, providing a more stable tenant base for the asset class. And yet, these buildings are in short supply across the U.S.

Why? The buildings are more complicated to operate than a traditional office space—and more complicated to build—but investment in these facilities is growing, especially in Texas and the Midwest.

Using data provided by CRE research and listing platform CommercialEdge, 42Floors looked at the 25 biggest CRE markets across the U.S. and analyzed MOB construction activity between 2012 and 2021 to see how the asset class has gained interest for investment firms.

Overall, the top 25 medical office space markets in the U.S. grew 13% since 2012, adding more than 52.7 million square feet. Breaking it down, Los Angeles led the country for MOB square footage with more than 1,000 MOBs totaling more than 41 million square feet, which is far more than any other single market in the country, according to 42Floors.

That said, Houston ranked the second-largest MOB market in the U.S., which added 4.3 million square feet of medical office space over the decade, growing 15% to its current total of just over 33 million square feet. Dallas-Fort Worth, too, saw similar growth, based on the report, landing next on the list, adding 4.6 million square feet to its current 33-million-square-foot medical office footprint—16% growth since 2012.

Lower-tier markets with aging populations also saw some of the most growth during the decade, based on the report, like the Twin Cities. Minneapolis-St. Paul ranked No. 15 in the U.S. with 231 buildings totaling nearly 16 million square feet but has grown 24% in the last 10 years, adding three million square feet. That’s almost as much as was added in Los Angeles during the same period, which can be attributed to the city’s always-expanding 65-and-older demographic.

Finally, 42Floors found that Chicago’s market consisted of 28.8 million square feet across 427 buildings—the fourth largest MOB market. Chicago added more than 4.3 million square feet of medical office space and experienced 18% growth since 2012.

As for current developments in the Midwest, Chicago, Madison, Wis.; and Milwaukee will see three large projects delivered within the next two years:

  • Chicago’s Joan & Paul Rubschlager Building at Rush (480,000 square feet) will be completed in Q3 of 2022;
  • The Eastpark Medical Center in Madison (469,000 square feet) will be completed in Q1 of 2024;
  • ThriveOn King in Milwaukee (455,000 square feet) will be completed in Q4 of 2023.

These three buildings will add more than 1.4 million square feet of medical office space to the region, based on the report.

This European-Inspired Chateau In Miami Also Comes With A Digital Twin In The Alpha City Metaverse

Metaverse real estate is becoming more sophisticated, with many crypto experts and entrepreneurs seeking to create visual experiences and lifestyle opportunities both IRL and virtually.

Miami, in particular, has made headlines for its many new-build homes with virtual NFT counterparts—and the Reflection Manor is no different. The Reflection Manor is a real-life European-style chateau being constructed in Miami Shores, located at 1275 NE 93rd Street, and will also come with a virtual replica NFT, located in the Alpha City metaverse. The architectural design is by Sakora Design.

The seller is Jorge Guinovart, a real estate developer, entrepreneur, and cryptocurrency expert, who created Alpha City. Alpha City is known as the Social Business Lifestyle Metaverse and was created to create a metaverse with an economy. It includes visual virtual experiences with social and lifestyle opportunities that help increase the value of virtual properties.

“Most NFT homes are either the home itself and not sited on a parcel of land, or they are both an NFT home and virtual land, but there is not much to explore outside of the property boundaries,” Jorge Guinovart tells Forbes. “While many virtual worlds are created by developers with a gaming background, the Alpha City metaverse was conceived with a social approach as opposed to a traditional gaming focus, which will create a broader appeal.” Click to read more at www.forbes.com.