According to the recent U.S. Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics, at the close of the first quarter, the top five markets with the largest hotel construction pipelines are led by Dallas with 185 hotels/21,882 rooms, slightly below record highs recorded at the end of Q4 2023. Next is Atlanta, with an all-time high of 153 hotels with 17,929 rooms, then Nashville with 127 hotels/16,199 rooms. Phoenix follows with 123 hotels/16,198 rooms, and the Inland Empire with a new record-high 121 hotels/12,324 rooms.
U.S. markets with the greatest number of projects already under construction at the Q1 close are New York with 47 hotels/7,655 rooms, Dallas with 25 hotels/3,059 rooms, and Nashville with 22 hotels/2,828 rooms. Atlanta has 21 hotels/2,588 rooms and the Inland Empire currently has 20 hotels/2,181 rooms under construction.
Dallas has the most hotels scheduled to start in the next 12 months, with 77 hotels/9,269 rooms. Following Dallas are Atlanta with 56 hotels/6,656 rooms; Phoenix, with 56 hotels/6,853 rooms; the Inland Empire with 54 hotels/5,369 rooms; and Nashville, with 49 hotels/6,600 rooms. Nationally, early planning project and room counts hit a new all-time high with 2,662 hotels/300,686 rooms. At the end of Q1, Dallas leads the U.S. with the largest number of hotels in early planning at 83 hotels/9,554 rooms. Atlanta follows, with 76 hotels/8,685 rooms. Next is Nashville with 56 hotels/6,771 rooms; Austin with 51 hotels/5,608 rooms; and Orlando with 49 hotels/11,442 rooms.
In the top 25 U.S. markets, a total of 105 new pipeline projects, accounting for 10,219 rooms, were announced during 2024’s first quarter. The leading markets for new project announcements include New York with 12 hotels/1,660 rooms, Orlando with 11 hotels/2,706 rooms, Atlanta with 10 hotels/1,139 rooms, Denver with 8 hotels/2,013 rooms, and the Inland Empire with 8 hotels/886 rooms.
Renovation and brand conversion activity continued to increase throughout the United States at Q1. During the first quarter, 2,041 hotels/266,405 rooms were in the renovation/conversion pipeline. At Q1, Los Angeles has the largest count of combined renovation and conversion projects with 31 hotels/4,857 rooms. New York, Atlanta, and Chicago follow, each with 30 hotels and accounting for 8,020 rooms, 3,488 rooms, and 8,128 rooms, respectively. Phoenix has 28 hotels/5,100 rooms under renovation and conversion at the close of the first quarter.
In the first quarter, 114 new hotels/15,506 rooms opened in the U.S., of which 60 hotels/10,036 rooms opened in the top 50 markets. LE is forecasting these same 50 markets to open another 255 hotels/30,502 rooms over the next three quarters, for a total of 315 projects/40,538 rooms in 2024.
In 2024, New York City tops the new hotel openings chart with 26 new hotels expected to open with 2,910 rooms, followed by Dallas with 16 new hotels/2,013 rooms, Inland Empire with 15 new hotels/1,559 rooms, Atlanta with 14 new hotels/2,732 rooms and Orlando with 13 new hotels/2,364 rooms.
In the 2025 forecast, LE analysts expect Atlanta to lead new hotel openings with 20 new hotels/2,141 rooms, followed by Dallas with 20 new hotels/2,092 rooms, then Houston with 19 new hotels/1,962 rooms. Phoenix and New York round out the top markets with 18 new hotels/2,912 rooms and 17 hotels/2,906 rooms, respectively.