The total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 2,924 projects totaling 358,228 rooms, according to the February 2014 STR Pipeline Report. This represents an 11.8-percent increase in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared with February 2013 and a 32.0-percent increase in rooms under construction. The total active pipeline data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Pre-Planning stage.
“Three census regions—Middle Atlantic, South Atlantic and West South Central—accounted for roughly 60 percent of U.S. rooms under construction, based on the February pipeline data,” said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of operations at STR. “The Middle Atlantic region ranked first with just under 21,000 rooms that have broken ground. The New York Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) alone accounted for nearly two-thirds of the region’s hotel construction activity. Based on the current construction activity and projects in the Final Planning phase, we anticipate these three regions will continue to dominate U.S. active pipeline activity in 2014.”
Among the U.S. regions, the West North Central region reported the largest increase in rooms in the total active pipeline, rising 22.2 percent over last year with 20,429 rooms in the pipeline. Three other regions reported increases of more than 15 percent: the Mountain region (+19.4 percent with 39,824 rooms); the Pacific region (+19.1 percent with 44,826 rooms); and the West South Central region (+18.1 percent to 58,930 rooms). The New England region fell 1.2 percent (to 11,313 rooms) in rooms in the total active pipeline, reporting the largest decrease among the regions.
