STR’s hotel pipeline data for the U.S. showed 1,563 projects accounting for 205,299 rooms in construction as of October 2019. This represented a 5.5% year-over-year increase in the number of rooms in the final phase of the development pipeline.
“Growth in construction activity had been hovering closer to 10%, and the 5.5% increase in October is actually the lowest for the industry since February,” said Bobby Bowers, STR’s senior VP of operations. “There also hasn’t been too much of a climb from the last few months, so we’re still roughly 6,000 rooms away from the construction peak (211,000 in December 2007). When we drill down to see which segments will see the largest impact of new inventory, Luxury chains stand out with 10.9% of existing supply represented in construction. No other segment is above 7.9% in that ratio.”
In absolute values, a majority of the country’s construction activity continues to be focused in the select-service segments.
- Upscale: 63,428 rooms
- Upper Midscale: 62,542 rooms
- Upper Upscale: 27,875 rooms
Among major markets, six reported more than 5,000 rooms under construction between new construction, expansion, renovation and conversion projects. New York led with 13,801 rooms, which represented 10.9% of the market’s existing supply, followed by Las Vegas (9,259 rooms, 5.6% of existing supply).
- New York: 13,801 rooms (10.9%)
- Las Vegas: 9,259 rooms (5.6%)
- Orlando: 7,322 rooms (5.7%)
- Nashville: 6,770 rooms (14.5%)
- Los Angeles/Long Beach: 6,111 rooms (5.8%)
- Dallas: 5,709 (6.1%)
