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African-Americans spend $42 billion a year in hospitality-related travel and services, yet they own less than 1% of the US' 50,000 hotels, says Michael Roberts, chairman of The Roberts Cos. It is time more people of color stepped into executive suites to buy or build hotels, shopping centers and other enterprises, he says. Real estate companies ultimately will be compelled to hire a more diverse population, as Hispanic and black populations replace the current majority says Ginny Clarke, Spencer Stuart partner. The real key to the executive suite is networking, asserts Craig Triplett, managing partner of The LeRoi Group.

Copyright Penton Media, INC. Aug 2007

African-Americans spend $42 billion a year in hospitality-related travel and services, yet they own less than 1% of the nation's 50,000 hotels, says Michael Roberts, chairman of The Roberts Cos. The firm is based in St. Louis, Mo., and owns an $800 million portfolio of hotels, telecommunications towers and TV stations. It's time more people of color stepped into executive suites to buy or build hotels, shopping centers and other enterprises, he says.

"We stay in the hotels, we work at the hotels, we cook at the hotels - why don't we own hotels? Why don't we own more shopping centers?" Roberts' remarks came during a seminar at the 2007 Global Diversity Summit in Commercial Real Estate held recently in Atlanta.

During the three-day conference, talent scouts mingled with industry pros, project managers, brokers and MBA grads. The summit drew attendees from across the country, and offered workshops on deal-making, property valuation and insights from African-American leaders in the commercial real estate industry.

Cultural barriers historically kept African-Americans out of executive suites, and deterred them from investing in hotels or office towers. "We're trying to get more qualified people to try commercial real estate," says Ginny Clarke, partner and leader of the diversity practice at recruiter Spencer Stuart in Chicago.

Real estate companies ultimately will be compelled to hire a more diverse population, as Hispanic and black populations replace the current majority, says Clarke, who spoke at the summit. In the meantime, job seekers should burnish their financial, analytical, and marketing skills, and pursue managerial posts in construction and logistics, she adds.

Lawrence Hollins, president of The Hollins Group search firm in Chicago, notes that eager employers are snapping up sharp MBA grads of all ethnicities. His firm recruits executives earning $400,000 to $600,000 a year, charging at least $150,000 per search. About 10% of the recruiter's roughly 50 active searches are real estate related. "While we don't solely recruit people of color, that's probably 40% of our practice," says Hollins, an African-American. Plum jobs require exquisite financial skills, including the ability to quickly analyze in one's head key aspects of a deal, the recruiter adds.

The real key to the executive suite is networking, asserts Craig Triplett, managing partner of The LeRoi Group, an Atlanta search firm. Directories don't list ethnicities, so ambitious applicants need to be resourceful, says Triplett, who earned an MBA at Harvard. Gatherings like the summit are ideal for networking, Triplett says. "I ran into at least 10 Harvard grads at this conference."

- Denise Kalette