It’s all good if you’re in the hotel business.
Occupancy rates in the U.S. are expected to remain at record levels through 2017, according to PKF Hospitality Research|CBRE Hotels, which also projects room rates to increase by 5.5% and 5.8%, respectively, this year and next.
With demand exceeding supply, developers are expected to deliver 103,230 hotel rooms in 865 projects in 2016, according to the latest Comprehensive Pipeline Summary from the market research firm STR.
Through November 2015, the existing supply of hotel rooms nationwide stood at 5,031,859. A total of 457,606 rooms were under construction or in various planning stages.
For all the talk about the rise in demand and construction of luxury hotels, STR foresees the greatest number of hotel rooms—53,725 rooms—being delivered in the “upper midscale” classification, followed by 43,150 “upscale” room deliveries. Conversely, STR estimates that only 15 luxury hotels with 3,468 rooms are expected to open this year.
New York, with an existing supply of 117,367 rooms, leads the nation with 80 hotels and 13,583 rooms under construction, followed by Houston (with 79,255 existing rooms and 6,269 under construction), Dallas (79,572; 4,361), Los Angeles/Long Beach (98,186; 4,240), and Washington, D.C. (107,776; 3,949).
Jan Freitag, STR’s Senior Vice President of Lodging Insights, told USA Today that while room construction was up 21% over a year ago, the 1.5% increase in rooms opening in 2016 would still be below the longer-term annual average of 1.9%
Along from rising customer demand, hotel construction is being driven by room rate appreciation. For example, in Greater Sacramento, Calif., where hotel occupancy rates exceed 77% and where at least 19 hotels are under construction, the average room rates set a record in October at $116.67 per night, up 10.6% from a year earlier, according to PKF Consulting.
However, there’s always the concern that booms will eventually overheat some markets. In Central Dallas, where at least 14 hotels are slated to open between fall 2015 and the end of 2018, investors were bullish about their projects but wondered just how many rooms the market could absorb.
“I can’t remember when we’ve ever had that influx of hotel rooms, certainly in recent history,” said John Crawford, who heads Downtown Dallas Inc., which advocates for downtown development. “And I’ve been in this market for the last 35 years.”
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
'Feebate' program to reward green buildings in Portland, Ore.
Officials in Portland, Ore., have proposed a green building incentive program that would be the first of its kind in the U.S. Under the program, new commercial buildings, 20,000 sf or larger, that meet Oregon's state building code would be assessed a fee by the city of up to $3.46/sf. The fee would be waived for buildings that achieve LEED Silver certification from the U.
| Aug 11, 2010
Five-star resort breaks ground on the Black Sea
Construction work has commenced on a five-star resort and leisure destination along the Black Sea coast in Batumi, Georgia. The RTKL-designed resort consists of two towers rising 86 and 58 meters over a two-story podium. The larger tower contains 250 guestrooms and suites while the smaller tower offers 78 residential apartments.
| Aug 11, 2010
Outdated office tower becomes Nashville's newest boutique hotel
A 1960s office tower in Nashville, Tenn., has been converted into a 248-room, four-star boutique hotel. Designed by Earl Swensson Associates, with PowerStrip Studio as interior designer, the newly converted Hutton Hotel features 54 suites, two penthouse apartments, 13,600 sf of meeting space, and seven "cardio" rooms.
| Aug 11, 2010
New hospital expands Idaho healthcare options
Ascension Group Architects, Arlington, Texas, is designing a $150 million replacement hospital for Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, Idaho. An existing facility will be renovated as part of the project. The new six-story, 320-000-sf complex will house 187 beds, along with an intensive care unit, a cardiovascular care unit, pediatrics, psychiatry, surgical suites, rehabilitation clinic, and ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Aloft hotel opens at Washington National Harbor
A partnership of five developers, including the John Hardy Group and Peterson Companies, have completed a 190-room aloft hotel at Washington National Harbor, a mixed-use retail/entertainment development in Oxon Hill, Md., near Washington, D.C. Designed in conjunction with David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group, the aloft prototype offers atmospheric public spaces designed to draw guests from the...
| Aug 11, 2010
D.C. gets sweeter with expanded green eatery
Greens Restaurant Group has expanded its popular salad and yogurt eatery, sweetgreen, to two neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C., area, Dupont Circle and Bethesda, Md. Designed by local architect CORE architecture + design, the experiential dining projects use salvaged hickory for the walls, wood recycled from the old bowling alleys for the tables and chairs, and sustainable paper/dye product...
| Aug 11, 2010
Manhattan's latest boutique hotel will be LEED Silver certified
New York-based developer Tribeca Associates has commissioned Brennan Beer Gorman Architects to design its latest mixed-use office and boutique hotel at 330 Hudson Street. Located in the downtown Hudson Square area of Manhattan, the LEED-Silver development will involve the redevelopment of a historic, eight-story warehouse building into 292,000 sf of office space, 15,000 sf of retail space, and ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Manhattan's Gouverneur Healthcare Services tops out renovation, expansion
One year after breaking ground, the Building Team for the renovation and expansion of the Gouverneur Healthcare Services facility on Manhattan's Lower East Side topped out the $180 million project. Designed by New York-based RMJM, the development involves a 316,000-sf renovation and 108,000-sf addition that will house a 295-bed nursing facility and five-story ambulatory care center.
| Aug 11, 2010
Decline expected as healthcare slows, but hospital work will remain steady
The once steady 10% growth rate in healthcare construction spending has slowed, but hasn't entirely stopped. Spending is currently 1.7% higher than the same time last year when construction materials costs were 8% higher. The 2.5% monthly jobsite spending decline since last fall is consistent with the decline in materials costs.
