According to Lodging Econometrics’s U.S. Construction Pipeline Trend Report, the U.S. ended 2017 with 5,151 projects and 623,695 guestrooms, a 4 percent boost year-over-year (YOY). The report also showed 1,544 projects and 200,632 guestrooms are under construction—a 2 percent increase. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months fell 12 percent YOY, with 2,101 projects and 245,214 guestrooms. Projects in early planning increased a whopping 44 percent by projects YOY with 1,506 projects and 177,849 guestrooms.
New York leads the top five U.S. markets with the largest hotel construction pipelines by project count with a pipeline of 180 projects and 30,699 guestrooms, followed by Dallas with 149 projects and 17,860 guestrooms and Houston with 146 projects and 15,714 guestrooms. Nashville has dipped below 120 projects for the first time since 2016 with116 projects and 15,793 guestrooms, while Los Angeles rounds out the top five with 110 projects and 16,733.
New York also leads the list of new hotel openings forecasted for 2018 with 57 hotels and 9,534 guestrooms. Dallas and Houston account for second and third, respectively, with 34 hotels and 3,841 guestrooms, and 31 hotels and 3,113 guestrooms. New York is also forecasted to open the most hotels in 2019 with 37 projects and 4,601 rooms, followed by Houston with 36 projects and 4,381 rooms.