Lodging Econometrics | August 28, 2017

According to a recent report by Lodging Econometrics (LE), the U.S. Construction Pipeline stands at 4,973 Projects/598,371 Rooms, with projects up 7% Year-Over-Year (YOY). There are 1,520 Projects/198,710 Rooms Under Construction, up 10% YOY, and are the highest counts recorded this cycle. Projects Scheduled to Start Construction in the Next 12 Months, at 2,312 Projects/264,924 Rooms, are up 5% YOY. Projects in Early Planning are at 1,141 Projects/134,737 Rooms and are up 8%, YOY. However, it’s slightly down from last quarter which, so far, is the peak level this cycle. For the economy, the rate of growth may be low but it’s running on all cylinders. So, too, with the Total Pipeline whose growth rate is also stalling. 448 Hotels/50,521 Rooms have already opened in the U.S. with another 573 Projects/64,385 Rooms forecast to open by year-end according to analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE). The Total 2017 Forecast for 1,021 Projects/114,906 Rooms, represents a 20% increase over the actual number of Hotel Openings in 2016, which stood at 849 Hotels/99,872 Rooms. 344 of the New Openings, or 34%, will be in the Top 25 Markets. Almost half of the hotels that are expected to open this year are Upper Midscale, at 477 Projects/46,093 Rooms and another 289 Projects/37,914 Rooms are Upscale. These two chain scales represent 75% of the 1,021 projects anticipated to open through the end of 2017. 497 of the projects will be between 100 and 200 rooms, while 464 of the projects will be Suburban locations. LE forecasts that 1,160 Projects/133,880 Rooms will open in 2018 and another 1,193 Projects/137,393 Rooms will open in 2019, still a distance from the annualized New Openings peak of 1,316 Projects/140,227 Rooms, set in 2009.