Blast-proof buildings: Researchers study terrorism and real estate

By: Molly M. Fleming//The Journal Record//September 27, 2016

Terrorism researcher David McIlhatton presents a lecture Tuesday at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. (Photo by Brent Fuchs)

EDMOND – Since 1970, there have been 150,000 terrorist attacks around the world. While England-based researcher David McIlhatton knows he cannot prevent terrorism, he said he still thinks more can be done to protect commercial real estate.

McIlhatton studies terrorism and its societal influence at Coventry University in England. He is visiting Edmond to research terrorism with University of Central Oklahoma real estate professor David Chapman.

McIlhatton discussed terrorism and buildings during a lecture Tuesday morning at UCO’s College of Business. He said he’s familiar with terrorism because he grew up in Northern Ireland, where a war continued for nearly 30 years between the Roman Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists.

He said religion is one reason terroristic acts are committed, but in Northern Ireland, the sensationalism was a key motivator.

“Some people do not feel they have value, so they do something to prove their worth,” he said.

Terroristic acts are usually around real estate, he said, though they may not end in death. He said in Northern Ireland, the attacks were often meant to create a disturbance. Since 1970, there have been more than 480 attacks at global tourist locations, including Paris in 2015.

McIlhatton and his team went to Paris to see what hotel occupancy rates looked like after the Nov. 13, 2015 attack. On that evening, suicide bombers, explosions, and gunmen killed 130 people.

Three months after the attack, hotel occupancy had decreased from 75 percent to 59 percent. The revenue per hotel room had dropped 20 percent.

“The distribution of the (attack’s) effect was pretty significant,” said McIlhatton. “This is hundreds of millions of euros lost in a three-month period.”

People visiting Paris from the Americas dropped 22 percent, with a 19-percent decrease from U.S. residents. European room nights dropped by 147,000.

Oklahoma City saw a similar effect after the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing on April 19, 1995. From April 1995 to April 1996, occupancy dropped 5.5 percent. In 1996, 1997, and 1998, the average hotel occupancy continued decreasing. By 1998’s end, the average occupancy rate was still not as high as April 1995, when 67.9 percent of rooms were filled.

Nationwide, the occupancy rate only slightly altered from April 1995 to the end of 1998, staying at about 63 percent.

McIlhatton said fewer room nights means a decline in spending. His team is trying to make cities safer so people will stay and spend.

“If you create a safer city, it makes it more attractive,” he said. “It makes it more confident, so people will come.”

He and Chapman are researching whether terrorism is considered when architects design buildings. McIlhatton and Chapman have a survey they’re using to see how terrorism-prevention mechanisms are built into structures, if at all.

They are using the Oklahoma City Memorial and Museum archives to see how the Murrah Building performed during the bombing.

Chapman said if buildings can be constructed to better deal with violent acts, then a terrorist plot will not be as severe. And when the plan’s effects can be lowered, then the economic effect isn’t as stark.

“What we want to do is see how to best protect the (real estate) assets,” he said.

Blast-proof buildings: Researchers study terrorism and real estate | The Journal Record