The latest U.S. Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics (LE) recorded that the nation closed 2020 with a total of 5,216 projects and 650,222 guestrooms in its pipeline. For the first time in six quarters, New York has regained top billing among all U.S. cities, with 150 projects and 25,640 guestrooms in its pipeline. Los Angeles holds second place with 148 projects and 24,808 guestrooms, while Dallas maintains 147 projects and 17,756 guestrooms in third. Atlanta and Orlando round out the top five as well.
New York also leads with projects under construction, clocking 108 projects and 19,439 guestrooms. The city closed the fourth quarter of 2020 with the most construction starts as well: 14 projects and 2,617 guestrooms. Despite the impact of COVID-19, New York was among four markets in the U.S. to announce more than 10 new construction projects during Q4 of 2020, with 17 projects and 2,700 guestrooms confirmed. (Miami took the lead in this category with 18 projects and 2,756 guestrooms.)
Of the top 50 U.S. markets in 2020, LE forecasts that the same cities are projected to open an additional 509 projects and 66,475 guestrooms in 2021 and 575 projects and 71,025 guestrooms in 2022. There are 2,015 projects and 234,703 guestrooms scheduled to begin construction in the next 12 months, which reflects a 12-percent decrease in projects and an 11-percent decrease in guestrooms, year-over-year.
