U.S. Hotel Development Up 13.5 Percent in August

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According to STR's August Hotel Pipeline Report, there are 3,246 hotels totaling 391,402 rooms Under Contract in the United States. This represents a 13.5-percent increase in the number of rooms Under Contract compared with August 2013 and a 38.4-percent increase in rooms under construction. The rooms Under Contract data includes projects in the In Construction, Final Planning and Planning stages but does not include projects in the Unconfirmed stage.

"The Upscale and Upper Midscale segments continue their dominance of U.S. hotel room construction, accounting for over two-thirds of the industry total," said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of operations at STR. "August room construction increased by 40 percent or more versus the prior year across all STR Chain Scale segments except the Luxury (-22.7 percent) and the Economy (+5.3 percent) segments. With roughly one-half of final planning rooms in the Upscale and Upper Midscale segments, the two asset classes will likely continue leading U.S. construction activity in the foreseeable future."

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Upper Upscale segment reported the largest increase in rooms Under Contract (+31.8 percent) with 29,352 rooms. Two other segments reported increases of more than 10.0 percent: the Upper Midscale segment (+22.1 percent with 116,689 rooms) and the Upscale segment (+11.8 percent with 103,323 rooms). The Luxury segment reported the largest decrease in rooms Under Contract (-4.1 percent with 7,336 rooms).

Four segments reported more than a 40.0-percent increase in rooms under construction: the Midscale segment (+49.1 percent with 4,936 rooms); the Upper Midscale segment (+46.6 percent with 31,722 rooms); the Upper Upscale segment (+43.9 percent with 10,981 rooms); and the Unaffiliated segment (+40.5 percent with 15,191 rooms). The Luxury segment reported the only decrease in rooms under construction, falling 22.7 percent with 3,624 rooms.

U.S. pipeline by Chain Scale segment (number of rooms and percent change August 2014 versus August 2013):