Hotel construction pipeline surpasses 6,200 projects at Q3 2024

According to the Q3 2024 U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE), the total U.S. pipeline stands at 6,211 projects/722,821 rooms, up 9% by projects and 7% by rooms year-over-year (YOY). This marks a new all-time high for projects in the U.S., surpassing previous pipeline records.

At the close of the third quarter, there are 1,185 projects/148,716 rooms under construction, marking an 11% increase in projects and a 6% increase in rooms YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months total 2,209 projects/251,797 rooms. Projects and rooms in early planning reached new all-time highs, at 2,817 projects/322,308 rooms, up 17% by both projects and rooms YOY.

LE analysts report that the upper midscale chain scale continues to have the largest project count in the U.S. pipeline, reaching a new all-time high of 2,315 projects/224,703 rooms. Following is the upscale chain scale with 1,407 projects/174,127 rooms. Together, these two chain scales comprise 60% of all projects in the total pipeline. The midscale segment also showed significant growth, reaching an all-time high with 928 projects/77,600 rooms, up 19% by projects and 16% by rooms YOY.

Construction starts grew to the highest level in 2024 to end the quarter, with 181 projects/20,840 rooms, up 18% by projects and 25% by rooms YOY. At Q3, brand conversion activity also reached an all-time-high project count with 1,247 projects/120,912 rooms. Combined with renovation activity of 722 projects/141,136 rooms, the total renovation and brand conversion pipeline in the U.S. stands at 1,969 projects/262,048 rooms.

Through the third quarter, 408 new hotels with 48,258 rooms opened in the U.S., with another 223 projects/23,902 rooms anticipated to open by year-end 2024. LE projects 2024 to finish at 631 new hotels with 72,160 rooms, a 1.3% supply increase. Looking ahead, LE analysts forecast 759 new hotels/86,264 rooms to open in calendar year 2025, representing a 1.5% supply increase. For 2026, LE forecasts 938 new hotels/101,017 rooms to open, amounting to a supply increase of 1.8%.

Dallas Leads Nation's Hotel Boom

At Q3, five U.S. markets stand out for their active under construction hotel projects. New York leads with 42 projects/6,771 rooms, followed by Dallas with 30 projects/3,443 rooms. Atlanta is third with 26 projects/3,001 rooms, while Phoenix and Nashville follow with 25 projects/4,522 rooms and 23 projects/3,269 rooms, respectively.

Dallas, with 73 projects/8,708 rooms, has the most projects scheduled to start in the next 12 months. Following Dallas are Atlanta with 62 projects/7,708 rooms, Inland Empire with 57 projects/5,670 rooms, Phoenix with 55 projects/6,620 rooms, and Austin with 49 projects/5,797 rooms.

Dallas also tops the list of markets with the most hotel projects in the early planning stage at Q3, boasting 91 projects that will add 10,652 rooms. Atlanta follows with 78 projects set to bring 8,465 rooms, while Nashville has 64 projects totaling 7,885 rooms. Austin and Los Angeles round out the top five, with Austin at 55 projects/6,434 rooms and Los Angeles at 51 projects/8,491 rooms.

In the third quarter, LE recorded a combined U.S. renovation and conversion total of 1,969 active projects with 262,048 rooms. The markets with the largest combined number of renovations and conversions at Q3 are Chicago with 34 projects/7,704 rooms, Atlanta with 31 projects/4,557 rooms, Phoenix with 29 projects/5,267 rooms, Washington, DC-MD-VA with 29 projects/4,452 rooms, and Los Angeles with 28 projects/4,468 rooms.

About Lodging Econometrics
For over 25 years, Lodging Econometrics (LE) has been the industry-leading provider of global hotel intelligence and decision-maker contact information. LE custom-builds business development database programs for hotel franchise companies looking to accelerate their brand growth, hotel ownership and management companies seeking to expand their real estate portfolios, and lodging industry vendors wanting to increase their sales.