U.S. Hotel Construction Pipeline Upticks 5% in January

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According to the January 2013 STR Pipeline Report, total active U.S. hotel development pipeline comprises 2,637 projects totaling 307,289 rooms.

This represents a 4.9-percent increase in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline compared with January 2012, and a 38.3-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.

"Under construction rooms continue their steady climb, increasing about 7 percent from last month and more than 38 percent versus January 2012," said Bobby Bowers, senior VP of operations at STR. "Upscale and Upper Midscale brand dominance continues, accounting for almost 63 percent of rooms that have broken ground. Additionally, Luxury rooms under construction are up significantly from January 2012, perhaps reflecting confidence in the industry's sustained upward momentum. We expect supply growth to continue inching forward in 2013, with full year net growth of around 1 percent."

Among the Chain Scale segments, the Luxury segment reported the largest increase in rooms in the total active pipeline, rising 96.8 percent with 7,940 rooms, followed by the Upscale segment with a 10.7-percent increase to 82,412 rooms. Three markets reported double-digit decreases in the number of rooms in the total active pipeline: Upper Upscale segment (-22.5 percent with 15,339 rooms); the Midscale segment (-17.9 percent with 19,530 rooms); and the Economy segment (-11.2 percent with 4,002 rooms).

The Luxury segment achieved the largest increase in rooms under construction, jumping 477.7 percent with 4,731 rooms, followed by the Upscale segment (+53.9 percent with 25,781 rooms) and the Upper Midscale segment (+22.5 percent with 19,740 rooms). The Upper Upscale segment was the only one to report a decrease in rooms under construction, falling 7.1 percent with 7,082 rooms.

U.S. pipeline by Chain Scale segment (number of rooms and percent change January 2013 versus January 2012):