APPROXIMATELY 6,095 PROJECTS with 713,151 rooms are in the U.S. construction pipeline at the end of the second quarter, according to Lodging Econometrics. This all-time high marks a 9 percent year-over-year increase in projects and an 8 percent increase in rooms compared to the second quarter of 2023.
LE’s Q2 2024 U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report revealed 1,171 projects with 147,611 rooms under construction at the end of the second quarter, reflecting a 10 percent increase in projects and a 4 percent increase in rooms year-over-year. LE expects that as interest rates decline, projects scheduled to start in the next 12 months will quickly move to under construction.
Developers' choice
Extended-stay brands remain popular with developers, comprising 36 percent of projects under construction, 33 percent of those starting in the next 12 months and 34 percent of projects in early planning, the report said. Sixty-four percent of these projects are in the middle tier of brands.
LE analysts reported that the upper-midscale chain scale leads with 2,262 projects and 219,547 rooms, the highest project count of all chain scales in the second quarter pipeline. The upscale chain scale follows with 1,417 projects and 175,343 rooms. Combined, these two chain scales account for 60 percent of all projects in the pipeline.
Future perfect
LE reported that around 250 new hotels with 29,777 rooms opened in the U.S. during the first and second quarter of 2024. More than half of these are upscale and upper-midscale, with 154 projects and 19,797 rooms in the upscale category and 237 projects and 23,160 rooms in the upper-midscale category. These two chain scales are expected to see the highest growth rates through 2026.
The upscale chain scale is forecast to grow its supply by 2.2 percent in 2024, while the upper-midscale scale is projected to grow by 2 percent. Both are expected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2025, with 3 percent and 2.6 percent growth, respectively, in 2026.
Around 90 new extended-stay hotels with 9,134 rooms opened in the U.S. during the first and second quarter. By year-end 2024, 223 new extended-stay hotels with 22,933 rooms are expected to open. In 2025, 304 hotels with 31,225 rooms are anticipated, while LE forecasts 363 new hotels with 38,165 rooms in 2026.
LE forecasts an additional 400 projects with 44,451 rooms for the remainder of 2024, bringing the total to 650 new hotels with 74,228 rooms by year-end. This is a 35 percent increase over the 480 hotels with 60,922 rooms that opened in 2023.
For 2025, LE analysts anticipate 779 new hotels with 87,405 rooms. For the first time, LE’s U.S. New Hotel Openings Forecast for 2026 estimates 928 projects with 101,796 rooms, representing a 1.8 percent increase in new supply.
LE recently reported the U.S. leads the global full-service hotel pipeline in the first quarter of 2024 with 2,272 projects and 341,854 rooms, making up 41 percent of the worldwide total. Dallas and Los Angeles rank among the top five cities globally.
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