Contemplating “dwell time” in real estate
By : J. David Chapman/May 30, 2024
I just returned from teaching two separate courses in England.
One of which was research methodology where students gain expertise in collecting and analyzing data. We go to the latest, and usually largest, redevelopment schemes in London for evaluation. This year, we were at Battersea Power Station Development which was historically the primary coal-fired power plant for London.
Last year, we were at King’s Cross redevelopment which was an old coal yard. Because both required transportation of coal, they required access to canals and the river Thames. Being on the water made both logical redevelopment projects for high-end mixed-use development.
Our students analyze why and how people use the development. They do this by observing and interviewing people, taking copious notes at different times and days analyzing spaces in the redevelopment project. They are looking at “placemaking” efforts by developers to make spaces pleasant so people will want to frequent the businesses occupying the real estate. This makes them desirable to tenants selling goods and services, therefore making the properties more profitable and valuable to the investors.
We have not chosen our location for next year’s research; however, I am keen to study something called “dwell time” in a redevelopment located in London. Dwell time takes the concept of placemaking to a new level. With dwell time, we not only want to make a location desirable to come to, but to stay for a period of time.
Research has shown that the amount of time one spends in a location is more important than the number of people passing by the location, also known as foot traffic.
Urban planning professionals should be paying close attention to the relationships between their planning concepts and the functional composition of an area that either attracts people to stay longer or fails to draw people’s attention. This being the case, we will perform research that will account for how many people dwell and how long they stay.
The follow-up to this observational research would be personal interviews with people who frequent spaces asking what they did while in the location, why they stayed, why they left, and what might have caused them to lengthen their stay.
My guess is some of you are asking the obvious question, are there some businesses that don’t necessarily benefit from people dwelling in their stores or businesses? The short answer is yes, but that is for another day.
Dr. J. David Chapman is Professor of Finance & Real Estate at The University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu).