The hospitality industry, along with the rest of commercial real estate, has seen hard times during the past year. Now, though, the market is picking up, says Tom Booth, construction manager with Atlanta-based Hardin Construction. "Major hotel companies are building because they have vision," he says. "The demand is there for meeting space. When hotels that are currently under construction open, the demand will be back -- barring any unforeseen circumstances. The projection is that the market is going to come back even stronger."

"We are seeing more full-service hotels than budget hotels," says Booth. Full service hotels have spas, restaurants, health clubs and meeting space.

Hardin recently completed The Ritz Carlton in Sarasota, Florida, for Core Residence One of Wichita, Kansas. The 18-story tower contains 266 hotel rooms and 50 luxury condominiums. In Atlanta, the company is constructing Technology Square, which includes a six-story, 207,141-square-foot hotel and executive conference center for the Georgia Institute of Technology. Jones Lang LaSalle is developing the project. Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback and Associates designed the hotel to include a ballroom, meeting rooms, 250 guestrooms and a restaurant.

Whether building during a slow economy or a booming economy, there is a balance in the equation between cost and revenue that determines the size of the hotel. Hardin plays a large part in helping clients find that balance.

"Sometimes you actually add hotel rooms to make the equation work," says Booth. "When you increase the number of rooms, then the cost per room drops down because you have the same amount of public space. You have the same pool, the same restaurant and the same laundry service."

Hardin is currently involved with owner Six Continents Hotels in the pre-construction stage on the Intercontinental Hotel, a project that has been altered more than once to make it more economical. The company tentatively plans to start construction on the Intercontinental Hotel in October; the opening is planned for fall 2004. The 423-room hotel will be located in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. It was originally designed to include office space and a hotel. When the office market slowed down and dot-coms vacated more than 1 million square feet of nearby office space in 2 weeks, the job was reworked as a hotel only.

At one time, planned floorplates at the Intercontinental Hotel included 19 rooms per floor on 25 floors. In tweaking the revenue/cost equation, "we shortened the building to 21 floors and increased the room count to 21 rooms per floor," says Booth. "That actually gave us more total guestrooms." And it saved on the cost associated with the hotel' four passenger elevators, three freight elevators and stairwells as well as eliminating four telecommunications rooms, which are located on each floor.

"You end up with more guestrooms and less building height so it is more economical. The owner is going to have more revenue after spending less money," says Booth.

Fast Track

Another means of bringing economy to hotel construction is the fast track program. "The majority of all hotels are done on fast track now," according to Booth. "Fast track is a preferred method because [it allows the project] to generate revenue 4 to 6 months sooner."

Additionally, hotel owners target openings for certain times during the year. "In Atlanta, for example, you want to open your hotel no later than September because of the fall conventions," Booth explains. "That is where you are going to have 70 to 75 percent occupancy instead of 50 percent occupancy. It is important to get that hotel open early."

In a recent fast track project, Hardin started The Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt in June of 2000 and completed the project in October 2001. "We started bringing the job out of the ground before I had complete documents," says Booth. In fact, the architect finished the interior drawings 6 months after Hardin began construction.

"We state in our estimate what we are carrying but the design details are not there yet," says Booth. Not only are estimates specific to the type of hotel, they are specific to detail within each hotel. For example, "a lot of companies will carry a flat rate for carpet and you cannot do that," says Booth. "The cost of the carpet in the ballroom is different than the cost of the carpet in the corridors and in guestrooms."

Hardin creates a sketch detailing carpet, floors, walls and finishes, and then creates an estimate based on those details. "A lot of companies figure they have a guestroom of 'X1 square feet and base the estimate on the cost per square foot of the rooms in the last five hotels they completed. We' tell you we have a two-piece crown molding all the way around the room, and a 6-inch wood base all the way around the room. We might say we have a chair rail for a portion of the room, and we1ve planned a wood valance over the window. We' do furniture plans so we' know where to put receptacles. By doing this, you don1t have surprises and the job stays on track and in budget."

He adds, "That is the difference in going to the level of detail and covering all of the budget aspects. When the architect fully develops the drawings, you have a budget that hits 99 percent of all those items."

The company has the experience to back up estimates. Based on previous projects completed by the company, for example, managers can name several carpets that have worked well in similar hotels. The costs of those particular carpets are carried in the budgets.

Booth explains, "When you build a lot, you understand these types of items and you have them broken out and detailed specifically in your estimate even though they haven1t been designed yet." That is how Hardin' pre-construction differs from a lot of companies. The company uses research and data from the hotels it builds, and the same people are building the same hotels within the company.

"We feel like we have [the fast track process] perfected because we have been doing it for so long," says Booth.

Trends

In other efforts to make the construction process more efficient, Hardin keeps up with current trends. "One of the toughest things in the industry is staying on top of construction technology. It is constantly changing," says Booth. "As a company, we have monthly training meetings where subcontractors come in and help do electrical training, mechanical training and training with air conditioning controls. The better we understand the systems, the better we can help the client meet a need."

Hardin' different business groups also share information concerning new technology, new products and new building methods. Lessons learned in the office and retail divisions are shared with the hospitality division through regular meetings. Hardin divisions also keep up-to-date concerning the cost of installing the new technology.

"Our job is to understand what the client is trying to achieve and do it as economically as possible," Booth says. "Often, we bring in key subcontractors to explain the technology, the cost and the benefit."

As hotels cater more and more to the business traveler, owners and developers have to consider technology, amenities and design at the pre-construction stage. The newest wireless technology allows frequent guests to register with their favorite hotel brand so that when they have a reservation, they can use their cell phones or palm pilots to see which rooms they are assigned. They can then pick up keys without having to sign in. "Palm pilot technology can also let you know when you have messages waiting at the desk. The technology is in place now and hotels are starting to install it," says Booth.

Other technological trends include Internet connections for laptops in bar areas and wireless technology that allows the use of laptops without having to plug into a wall data outlet. Other amenities that are popular now are rainhead showers, steam units (basically saunas located in the showers of grand and presidential suites) and multiple jet heads in showers.

Some hotels are also installing building automation systems that control thermostats in individual rooms. These systems save energy by allowing empty rooms to vary in temperature by a few degrees. For example, on a hot summer day, empty guestrooms and an empty meeting room will be 3 degrees warmer than occupied rooms. When people enter these rooms, the computer automatically drops the temperature to the original setting. The computer will also turn off lights when guests leave their rooms. When the guests return, the lights come back on exactly as they were left.


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