U.S. Construction Pipeline Continues its Steady Growth Trajectory with Upper Midscale & Extended Stay Projects Dominating the Pipeline at Q3 2023

According to the most recent Construction Pipeline Trend Report for the United States by Lodging Econometrics (LE), at the close of Q3 2023, the total U.S. construction pipeline stands at 5,704 projects/672,676 rooms, up 7% Year-Over-Year (YOY) by projects and rooms. The hotel construction pipeline continues to grow at a moderate pace with current project counts 3% below and rooms 14% below the all-time high of 5,883 projects/785,547 rooms reached in Q2 2008.

At the close of the third quarter, there are 1,063 projects/140,331 rooms under construction, up 8% by projects and 4% by rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 2,234 projects/257,729 rooms, up 8% YOY by projects and 9% YOY by rooms. Projects and rooms in the early planning stage each increased 7% YOY to stand at 2,407 projects/274,616 rooms, just 27 projects and 5,296 rooms shy of the all-time high.

Analysts at LE report that the upper midscale chain scale has the largest project count of all chain scales in the total U.S. construction pipeline, accounting for 38% of the projects and standing at 2,149 projects/209,895 rooms at the Q3 close. Following is the upscale chain scale with 1,376 projects/170,943 rooms at the close of the quarter. Together, these two chain scales comprise 62% of all projects and 57% of the rooms in the total U.S. hotel construction pipeline.

At the end of 2023’s third quarter, 2,176 projects/223,518 rooms in the U.S. construction pipeline are extended stay projects, accounting for 38% of projects in the total pipeline. Middle tier extended stay brands make up the majority of projects in the extended stay segment at Q3, accounting for 63% of projects in the total extended stay pipeline and 24% of projects in the total U.S. construction pipeline.

Renovation and conversion activity remains steady at the end of Q3, with conversion projects and rooms hitting the highest counts ever recorded by LE and ending the quarter at 1,100 projects/146,757 rooms. Combined, the renovation and conversion active pipeline accounts for 1,912 projects and 285,568 rooms, a peak total room count at the end of Q3 ‘23. LE analysts expect this trend to continue into ‘24 and ‘25.

Through the third quarter, 345 new hotels with 41,115 rooms opened in the U.S. with another 182 hotels/24,790 rooms anticipated to open by the end of the year. LE analysts forecast a total of 527 new hotels with 65,905 rooms to open in 2023, representing a 1.2% increase in new hotel supply. LE analysts expect new hotel openings to increase in 2024 and 2025, representing a 1.4% and 1.5% supply increase, respectively.

The Dallas Market Maintains Grasp on the Greatest Number of Projects in the U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline at Q3 2023

As seen in the third quarter United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the top five markets with the largest hotel construction pipelines by projects at Q3 2023 are led by Dallas, with an all-time high of 189 projects/21,840 rooms, followed by Atlanta, with 140 projects/17,775 rooms, and Nashville, with 122 projects/16,046 rooms. Next is Phoenix, with 119 projects/16,455 rooms, and the Inland Empire, with 117 projects/11,784 rooms.

At the Q3 close, New York City continues to have the greatest number of projects under construction, with 46 projects/8,386 rooms. Phoenix follows with 26 projects/5,353 rooms, then Atlanta with 26 projects/4,354 rooms, Dallas with 25 projects/3,178 rooms, and finally the Inland Empire with 23 projects/2,386 rooms.

Dallas has the most projects scheduled to start in the next 12 months with 80 projects/9,021 rooms, followed by Atlanta with 60 projects/7,311 rooms, Austin with 47 projects/5,683 rooms, the Inland Empire with 47 projects/4,668 rooms, and then Los Angeles with 46 projects/7,113 rooms.

Dallas also leads the top five markets with the greatest number of projects in the early planning stage at the end of the third quarter with 84 projects/9,641 rooms, then Nashville with 59 projects/7,176 rooms, Atlanta with 54 projects/6,110 rooms, Los Angeles with 53 projects/8,699 rooms, and Phoenix with 51 projects/6,425 rooms.

Orlando has the highest number of new projects announced into the pipeline in the third quarter with 10 projects/2,217 rooms, followed by Phoenix with 9 projects/1,457 rooms, then Dallas with 9 projects/1,003 rooms, Nashville with 8 projects/900 rooms, and then Atlanta with 8 projects/782 rooms.

The renovation and conversion pipeline activity remains strong in the U.S. at Q3 with 1,912 hotels/285,568 rooms presently under renovation or conversion. Forty of the top 50 markets in the U.S. currently have 10 or more hotels undergoing renovation or conversion at the end of the quarter. Atlanta has the greatest number of renovation or conversion projects in the pipeline at Q3, with a combined total of 40 projects/4,307 rooms.

In the first three quarters of 2023, the U.S. opened 345 new hotels with 41,115 rooms. Forty-nine percent of these new hotels opened through Q3 are within the top 50 U.S. markets. The markets with the highest number of new openings through Q3 are New York City with 14 hotels/2,407 rooms, Atlanta with 11 hotels/1,108 rooms, Detroit with 10 hotels/1,292 rooms, Houston with 8 hotels/1,154 rooms, and Austin with 8 hotels/1,001 rooms.

U.S. markets forecast to open the greatest number of new hotels in 2023 are New York City with 30 projects/5,706 rooms, Houston with 13 projects/1,660 rooms, Atlanta with 13 projects/1,279 rooms, the Inland Empire with 13 projects/1,141 rooms, and Dallas with 11 projects/1,775 rooms. For the past three years, New York City has opened the most hotels per year and is forecast to do the same through year-end 2024. In 2025, LE analysts expect Atlanta to surpass NYC and have the greatest number of new hotel openings, with 24 new hotels/2,874 rooms forecast to open by year-end.