NATIONAL REPORT — Lodging
Econometrics debuted a new forecast for 2027 openings and — no surprise —
Dallas is on top.
The forecast projects Dallas will open 35 new hotels and 3,694 rooms in 2027,
followed by Inland Empire in California with 28 new hotels and 2,923 rooms,
Atlanta with 24 new hotels and 2,396 rooms, Phoenix with 21 new hotels and
2,223 rooms and Austin with 17 new hotels and 1,984 rooms.
Dallas also leads again in LE’s 2Q25 construction pipeline with 199 projects and a new record high of 24,497
rooms. Atlanta is second with 165 projects and 19,027 rooms, followed by
Nashville with 128 projects and 17,025 rooms. Austin, Texas, enters the list at
No. 5 with new record-highs of 125 projects and 14,598 rooms. Phoenix follows
with 123 projects and 16,228 rooms. All five markets experienced year-over-year
growth in Q2, with the largest gains in Austin, which saw a 10% YOY increase in
projects and a 7% increase in rooms.
At the end of the second quarter,
the five U.S. markets with the greatest number of projects currently under
construction in the pipeline are led by Phoenix with 35 projects and
5,089 rooms, New York City with 33 projects and 6,118 rooms, Dallas with 32
projects and 3,804 rooms, Atlanta with 23 projects and 2,782 rooms, and
Nashville rounds out the top five with 20 projects and 2,739 rooms.
Dallas leads the list of markets
with projects scheduled to start in the next 12 months with 78 projects and
8,603 rooms. It is followed by Atlanta with 65 projects and 7,942 rooms,
Austin with 53 projects and 6,009 rooms, Nashville with 52 projects and 7,333
rooms, and the Inland Empire with 51 projects and 5,184 rooms.
Dallas also tops the list of markets
with the most projects in the early planning stage with 89 and
12,090 rooms. Atlanta is second with 77 projects and 8,303 rooms, followed by
Nashville with 56 projects and 6,953 rooms. Closing out the top five are
Orlando and Austin, each with 54 projects, accounting for 13,329 rooms and
6,033 rooms, respectively.
At the Q2 close, combined U.S.
renovation and conversion projects totaled 1,956 active projects, comprising
259,495 rooms. The markets with the largest combined number of renovations and
conversions, at Q2, were Washington, D.C., with 34 projects and 4,889 rooms,
Atlanta with 30 projects and 3,370 rooms, Charlotte with 29 projects and 3,343
rooms, Orlando with 27 projects and 14,722 rooms, and New York with 27 projects
and 8,288 rooms.
According to LE analysts, 329 new
hotels with 39,628 rooms opened in the U.S. during the first and second
quarters of 2025. After the first half of the year, Atlanta leads in new
openings with 11 projects and 1,191 rooms, followed by Dallas with 10 projects
and 964 rooms, New York City with 9 projects and 1,072 rooms, Tampa with 7
projects and 901 rooms. and Orlando with 6 projects and 2,617 rooms.
The LE forecast for the remainder of
2025 includes the opening of another 406 hotels with 45,160 rooms, totaling 735
new hotels with 84,788 rooms by year-end. Of the top 50 markets in the U.S.,
the New York City market is forecast to open another 23 new hotels, adding
2,971 rooms by year-end 2025. Next up is Dallas with 20 new hotels and 2,135
rooms; Atlanta with 19 new hotels and 2,245 rooms; Phoenix with 12 new hotels
and 2,144 rooms; and Nashville with 12 new hotels and 1,527 rooms.
Looking ahead to 2026, Phoenix is
forecast to lead with the largest number of new openings at 27 hotels
and 3,207 rooms, followed by Dallas with 26 hotels and 2,595 rooms, Atlanta
with 21 hotels and 2,154 rooms, New York City with 14 new hotels
and 2,452 rooms, and Nashville with 14 new hotels/1,735 rooms forecast to open
by year-end.