soon to Tejon Ranch

More jobs, new offerings, exciting amenities coming soon to Tejon

Businesses prove resilient at Tejon its grand opening in the second quarter. Ranch. Despite the many challenges More than a gallery, this 11,000-squarefoot the pandemic has posed, the Tejon art space will feature the work of more Ranch Commerce Center and Outlets at than 250 California artists and craftsmen Tejon continue to grow and thrive. As 2021 with pieces from master artisans to new commences, the up-and-coming talent. The experience expansive outdoor will continue for customers as Bird Dog shopping center is plans to offer workshops that educate proving itself again while encouraging creativity. to be an important “Plans include murals, on- and off-site hub for the county, as classes, and receptions. With the backdrop it brings several new of Tejon Ranch and the inspiring beauty and exciting opera- of the surrounding areas, the options are tors to the southern limitless,” says David Gordon, COO at Bird end of Kern County. Dog Arts and former executive director of

Becky Swiggum Even when the The Arts Council of Kern County. pandemic was at In addition to the much-anticipated its worst, most of the opening of Bird Dog Arts, the Outlets Outlet’s retail vendors and restaurants at Tejon will be ushering in the grand have stayed open and are fully compliant opening of Cinnabon (which includes with COVID-19 cleaning and sanitizing the to-die-for Carvel soft ice cream) and protocols. These include almost 30 drive- an expansion of the popular Cotton On thru and drive-up options – including retail store — all before the beginning of five brands that opened in the Commerce summer. RV and camping supply store Center the last half of 2020 (Baskin Rob- Camping World has also signed a new bins, Dunkin Donuts, Charley’s, Jamba lease, soon to be occupying a location Juice and a second Taco Bell). According more than double the size of their Bakersto the United States Census Bureau, 83.5 field store. This will be Camping World’s percent of U.S. businesses in the accom- only California distribution center and modation and food services sector expe- will house everything that is sold in the rienced a negative impact from the pan- Camping World retail stores. Additiondemic. Even in light of those challenges, ally, the world’s largest furniture retailer, the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center and IKEA, actually expanded its operations Outlets at Tejon have found a way to safely with Tejon Ranch, despite and really as support businesses and shoppers and, in a result of the pandemic in the summer turn, the local economy. of 2020.

Tejon Ranch Company has worked ag- But outlet offerings and increased gressively to create new opportunities for employment via new industrial tenants proven companies, established brands to the Commerce Center are not the only and aspiring entrepreneurs alike. In 2021 way Tejon Ranch is positively impacting the company is developing a number of the region. Thanks to the recent approval new projects — a testament to the fact by the Kern County Board of Supervisors that there remain boundless opportuni- of a 495-unit apartment complex that will ties for businesses in Kern County, even be located immediately north of the Outin these difficult months. lets, Tejon will be offering new housing to enhance Kern County’s reputation. to offer bigger and better things for our

One of those exciting developments opportunities for the thousands already Bakersfield’s new brand promise is “the community. is set to open this year at the Outlets at working at the Outlets and Commerce sound of something better,” an homage to Tejon. Bird Dog Arts, a brand-new art Center as well as others in the south valley. the famous Bakersfield Sound. The song experience modeled after the Art Hound All of the growth taking place at Tejon’s being written at Tejon Ranch is certainly Gallery in Essex, Vt., is scheduled for Outlets and Commerce Center continues in tune with that promise as it continues

PHOTO COURTESY TEJON RANCH COMMERCE CENTER

The Outlets at Tejon.

The Tejon Ranch Commerce Center.

PHOTO COURTESY TEJON RANCH COMMERCE CENTER

Bakersfield hotels fare better than state, US averages during pandemic

The pandemic of 2020 severely impacted the travel industry worldwide. But Bakersfield-area hotels have been weathering the storm better than those statewide or across the nation.

Based upon an analysis conducted by Visit Bakersfield of two key performance indicators over the fourth quarter of 2020, those year-over-year measures for Bakersfield hotels have declined less than those at the state and national levels.

OCCUPANCY RATES

A hotel’s occupancy rate is calculated as the number of hotel room nights sold divided by the number of hotel room nights available. It is a key performance indicator, or KPI, that reflects how well local hotel rooms are being filled. This year-over-year, or YOY, analysis looks at how occupancy rates in Q4 compare with the same period last year. As shown in the first chart (available online), the dotted line represents Q4 occupancy rates in 2019. The three solid lines show how “underwater” hotels were in Bakersfield, statewide and nationally, respectively, compared with the preceding year shown as the dotted line.

For most of Q4, occupancy levels for Bakersfield hotels were less underwater than those at the state or national levels. It was only at the end of the quarter in mid-December that both Bakersfield and California YOY figures dropped significantly: Bakersfield’s occupancy rate declined about 37 percent YOY while the same measure statewide dipped 46 percent below 2019 levels.

These declines in YOY occupancy levels coincided with the state’s new stay-athome order. About that same time, national occupancy levels began to climb significantly; that uptick may reflect the increase in holiday travel that occurred nationwide.

Data from Q1 of the new year will help clarify whether the rise in national YOY occupancy levels was tied to holiday travel or represented the start of industrywide improvements. Next quarter’s data also should shed light on whether the mid-December declines at the local and state levels were a reflection of California’s stay-athome order, presuming that order is lifted before the end of Q1. AVERAGE DAILY RATES

Visit Bakersfield also analyzed a second KPI known as Average Daily Rate, or ADR. ADR is calculated by dividing a hotel’s room revenue by the room nights sold.

Using the same YOY approach, Visit Bakersfield found that Bakersfield ADR was at or above last year’s levels for six different weeks during Q4, as shown in the second chart (available online). This contrasts significantly with state and national ADR, which did not approach last year’s levels (again, the dotted line) at any time during Q4. Both state and national ADR saw significant upticks in YOY ratios for Thanksgiving week, but then returned to previous levels before rising again toward the end of December, coinciding with increased demand by holiday travelers. BAKERSFIELD, STATE AND NATIONAL FIGURES

Why have Bakersfield hotels fared better than either the state or national markets in Q4 YOY occupancy rates and ADR? While supporting data are sparse, there are two possible explanations. First, feedback from travel experts suggests that the reduction in travel most heavily impacts luxury properties, resort communities and those that rely heavily upon conventions and business travel, including hotels around airports.

At the other end, smaller communities and those along major transportation corridors were expected to be less affected, because products still need to get to market and some people still need to travel. Bakersfield would fit into the last category.

Second, the state and national figures reflect all properties within their respective markets. Because state and national markets include luxury, resort and business-reliant hotels, those impacted properties logically would tend to weigh down state and national averages. The Bakersfield market does not have those types of hotel properties so, intuitively, its declines would be less severe.

IMPACTS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT

In addition to providing hotels with key information about their respective properties, occupancy rate and ADR information helps local governments with their revenue projections. For example, the city of Bakersfield assesses a 12 percent “bed tax” on each room night sold within the city limits (Kern County charges 6 percent for hotels in the unincorporated areas). That bed tax revenue is determined by both the number of room nights sold and the rate that hotels sell those room nights. When the number of room nights sold swings up or down significantly, or when the rate charged for those rooms changes dramatically, bed tax estimates can be affected.

THE FUTURE

Over the past few months, six Bakersfield hotel properties have closed for various reasons: the economy, conversions to long-term housing or rebranding. All told, 777 hotel rooms have been taken out of inventory. On the other side of the ledger, one new hotel opened in November 2020: the 125-room Residence Inn by Marriott at 8312 Espresso Drive. In addition, the former Hotel Rosedale at 2400 Camino Del Rio Court is undergoing rebranding and is expected to reopen as an Hourglass Hotel, returning another 165 rooms to Bakersfield’s hotel room inventory.

In recent years, plans for four new hotel properties have been submitted to city staff. Together, those planned projects represent 405 potential new rooms. According to City Planning, as of mid-January 2021, no progress on any of the four proposed projects has been made by their respective developers.

David Lyman

PHOTO COURTESY VISIT BAKERSFIELD

The new 125-room Residence Inn by Marriott opened in November 2020 at 8312 Espresso Drive in Bakersfield.

David Lyman, Ph.D., is manager of Visit Bakersfield. He frequently monitors, compiles and analyzes various data about the local economy. He and his crew help visitors from throughout the world spend their money and find The Sound of Something Better in California’s ninth largest city. They are available toll-free (866) 4257353 or at Info@VisitBakersfield.com.