What a year it has been already! We’re looking forward to summarizing all that’s happened in the Charlotte market thus far in this Q1 2022 Charlotte Market Newsletter. Read below to learn more about: performance trends we’ve seen, local happenings in the Charlotte area, upcoming events, lodging inventory & hotel news, a featured client success story, and some exciting developments from us here at Rabbu!

 

Trends within Charlotte’s STR Space

Q1 2022 is pacing ahead both in occupancy and ADR. We are cautiously optimistic that 2021 performance will duplicate, or even surpass, itself in 2022; while international travel is still uncertain under federal testing requirements, domestic travel is still on the rise. That, paired with the Omicron wave having tapered off, leads to an expected strong performance in the market.

Occupancy

ADR and RevPAR

(Source: Wheelhouse)

 

 

Local Happenings in the Charlotte Market

State of Center City: $4B worth of projects in development pipeline across uptown, South End and midtown

The latest annual report on the health of uptown, South End and adjacent neighborhoods shows continuing growth and increasing involvement by institutional investors. Read More

2022 off to a rough start for Charlotte homebuyers

For-sale housing supply plummeted 50% compared to this time last year, down to half a month’s supply in the Charlotte area. Read More

Charlotte may crack down on Airbnb and other short-term rentals

Charlotte’s leaders have sketched out a plan to implement some permanent restrictions for Airbnb, Vrbo, and bed-and-breakfast owners. Read More

Payroll data shows the toll of Omicron variant on the service sector

The number of average weekly hours for service sector workers dropped significantly in areas with high case counts. Read More

Here’s how your property rights could be impacted by new Charlotte ordinance

The Unified Development Ordinance, or UDO, has massive implications for Charlotte residents and developers, from building standards to tree removal provisions. Read More

Heal Charlotte raising money to turn hotel into affordable housing campus

Heal Charlotte has launched a capital campaign to raise $10 million to help families impacted by homelessness in the Queen City. The money would go toward transforming a hotel into an affordable housing campus on Reagan Drive. Read More

Can Charlotte’s expanded convention center boost recovery in the hospitality sector?

From July 2020 through June 2021, 139 organizations canceled events at the Charlotte Convention Center, 69 of which were rescheduled for the future. It’s those events, and a spate of new bookings, that have the convention center poised for a busy year.  Read More

Developer seeks rezoning for 102-unit townhome project in Gastonia

The Gastonia Planning Commission holds a public hearing to consider a rezoning request from Kaplan Residential. The rezoning would facilitate a 102-unit townhome project from the developer. Read More

Airbnb targets North Carolina’s tourism recovery

The state’s top tourism promoter is partnering with Airbnb on a campaign to attract more visitors to North Carolina. Read More

These restaurants and breweries are on their way to Charlotte in 2022

Here are some of the Charlotte restaurants planning to open in 2022. Read More

 

 

Upcoming Events

In the Charlotte Market

• Tyler, the Creator – Call Me If You Get Lost Tour – Concert – March 16
• Nickelodeon’s JoJo Siwa D.R.E.A.M. The Tour – Concert – March 3
• Maxwell: The Night Tour – Concert – March 17
• WWE Friday Night Smackdown – Event – March 18
• Bad Bunny – El Ultimo Tour Del Mundo – Concert – March 26
• Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour – Concert – March 30

 

 

Short-Term Rentals

Available Listings – 3 Years Running

The short-term rental market has seen higher demand since the beginning of the pandemic, and we are seeing more and more players enter the market. However, we suspect the rising operational cost and other operational hassles could weed out some supply eventually. Some inventory seems to be unavailable beyond the next 90 days, potentially due operational limitations.

 

 

 

New Hotel Announcement in the Charlotte Market

AC Hotel Charlotte Ballantyne

Opening Date: January 2022 | Location: Ballantyne | Number of Rooms: 186

 

Owner Profile

Pavel “Paul” Shchetinin

A quaint cottage oasis located in the middle of Charlotte, North Carolina

Property: CLT_HUbbard4323_2 | Annual Revenue: $40,000+| 2021 Booked Nights: 211 | Type: Unique Stay SFH

Paul and his wife, Marina, purchased the Hubbard property from an existing Rabbu partner in February of 2021, just before COVID-19 shut down much of the travel industry. Seeing the potential this property had with a little intentional TLC, they immediately began work remodeling the property, putting in an additional $20,000 into a total remodel, doing much of the work themselves. Notable improvements included a brand new game room in the basement, new flooring throughout the house, new HVAC system, and refreshed interior design.

Those improvements paid off, paying for themselves in the first six months of 2021 and exceeding the entire annual revenue of 2020 ($15,000) in the latter half of 2021, all in the midst of COVID-19. The success of their property highlights the potential for lucrative “unique stay” properties, a specific property type that Airbnb created in 2018. Since 2018, unique stays have exploded in popularity, with the number of listings and booking volumes increasing year over year annually. An interesting article from Insider gives a glimpse at the most wished for Airbnbs in the U.S., exemplifying this trend even further.

After seeing the success of short-term rentals and unique stays, Paul and his wife, Marina, are looking to expand their portfolio in 2022. They are looking for substantial land in the Appalachians or the Wasatch region of Utah with the intent of building a community of tiny homes.

Aside from property investment, Paul operates two successful businesses in the Charlotte area, King Carolina Flooring and BioPure, a home sanitization service. If you are interested in contacting Paul to network or learn more about his businesses, feel free to reach out to Max and we can connect you!

 

 

What’s Been Happening at Rabbu?

New Website Launch

We’re excited to announce a brand new remodel of our website! Our team has worked hard to put together a website that best portrays what we do, how we can help, and a few of our success stories from clients like you. We’re optimistic that this new and comprehensive website can help our current clients, or potential future clients, better understand the wide breadth of services we offer — all with the intent of serving you best.

 

Map Mode Feature

We’re excited to announce a new feature on our known and loved tool, Insights! Our free address estimator tool is known for providing transparent insights into how much a property can earn. With the new addition of Map Mode, you have the power to tweak important variables like location when deciding on comparable listings. We know first-hand how significant the impact of a few blocks can be when considering the financials of a property, so we set out to build a location visualization tool in data.rabbu.com. We hope you’ll find it as useful as we do!