Outlier Northern New Jersey outperforms

NATIONAL REPORT — Driven by robust group business, limited new supply and overflow demand from nearby Manhattan, the Northern New Jersey hotel market has significantly outperformed the overall U.S. lodging landscape this year in terms of RevPAR gains and is showing no signs of slowing down.

According to STR, the Jersey City/Secaucus, N.J. submarket has experienced a 3.7% RevPAR increase year-to-date through October, mainly driven by an ADR spike of 3.9%.

Didio Pequeno, director of hospitality market analytics, Northeast & Midwestern U.S., for CoStar, said the submarket is outperforming the U.S. year to date. Furthermore, the recently released Emerging Trends in Real Estate United States and Canada 2026 report — published jointly by PwC and the Urban Land Institute — ranks Northern New Jersey among its top 10 leading markets to watch in the U.S. (the Jersey City market is also on the top 10 list). 

In addition to Jersey City/Secaucus, Northern New Jersey encompasses a handful of notable markets, including the Meadowlands and Newark, as well as suburban areas like Florham Park, Edison and Morristown.

Pequeno said there are several signs that Northern New Jersey is currently an outlier market in the U.S.

“Around the U.S., ADR growth has really slowed considerably. We’ve seen the [overall U.S.] ADR decline in two of the past three months, and that’s being driven by a decline in demand that’s affecting pricing power, but that doesn’t appear to be the case in the Jersey City/Secaucus submarket,” he said.

Pequeno said that year-to-date group demand has increased by close to 20% in the market, compared with the overall U.S., which has seen a 1% decline. In addition, on a trailing 12-month basis, group occupancy is up 13% in Jersey City/Secaucus.

“That’s pretty substantial and it flies in the face of what we’re seeing around the country. This market has really done an excellent job of driving group demand,” he said.

That’s pretty substantial and it flies in the face of what we’re seeing around the country. This market has really done an excellent job of driving group demand.

Didio Pequeno

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Mark Laport, president and CEO, Concord Hospitality, touted the Raleigh, N.C.-based owner/operator’s Hyatt House Jersey City, which opened in 2016. Laport noted that the extended-stay hotel has maintained a RevPAR index above 120 and has seen a 9.1% year-to-date RevPAR spike, with occupancy in the upper 80s.

“It’s been a solid year for us,” he said, “[and] we’re feeling good about it for next year.”

Pequeno, meanwhile, suggested that at least a portion of the Northern New Jersey market’s recent results can be attributed to Manhattan, which serves as a feeder market. “New York has done incredibly well this year. I think a lot of that is flowing into Jersey City as well,” he said.

Laport said Concord, which has several properties in the New York City market, including an outperforming Courtyard by Marriott New York Downtown, agreed.

“A growing number of people would say that Jersey City is more and more a New York City annex, which we’re seeing,” he said, adding the market is “just on fire.” Laport noted the market’s appeal: “It’s actually easier to get to some places in New York if you’re staying in Jersey City because the PATH [Train] is right there.”

Limited new supply is another factor that has benefited the Northern New Jersey market, according to Pequeno. He said supply has remained flat over the past few years, and there are currently no new rooms under construction.

Laport emphasized that the barrier to entry for hotel development in Jersey City, in particular, remains significant.

“It’s going to be very difficult to develop anything meaningful in Jersey City for some time to come because the multifamily companies continue to just tear it up. Thousands of units have been built, and rents continue to rise. As long as that’s the case, I think we’ll see a lot of pressure to do more residential and less hospitality,” he said.

The Briad Group opened the Element New York – Wood-Ridge in New Jersey in 2021.

World Cup draw

Another key area of interest in the region is the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, which is home to MetLife Stadium. The large-scale venue hosts the NFL’s New York Jets and Giants, as well as major concert performances, not to mention the World Cup in the summer of 2026, including the finals on July 19.

The Briad Group, a hotel management firm based in Livingston, New Jersey, opened the 126-key Element New York – Wood-Ridge in New Jersey in 2021. Steve Scharf, senior vice president, development and asset management for The Briad Group, described the market as really strong and noted that the property represents a legacy hotel for the company and has been running occupancy in the mid-80s for the past 18 months, with average daily rates close to $200.

A lot of folks said, ‘Hey, if we’re going to come to New York, let’s stay in the city,’ So, we don’t know if that will happen again. There are a lot of people who have questioned how strong the World Cup will really be.

Mark Laport

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“We’ve done extremely well. It was pretty unique for us,” he said. “It’s a seven-story building with a rooftop, restaurant and lounge. Obviously, the Route 17 and Route 3 corridors are pretty strong leisure draws, along with the Meadowlands and American Dream mall. There are a lot of corporate [offices] up and down that stretch as well."

Concord also operates several limited-service hotels in the East Rutherford area and Laport said he isn’t convinced that the World Cup is necessarily going to provide the anticipated boost for the market, noting “there’s a lot of concern” that the World Cup could be similar to the 2014 Super Bowl, which was also played at MetLife Stadium.

“It was very disappointing. Hotels near the Meadowlands ran strong occupancies, but not sellouts, as you would expect. A lot of folks said, ‘Hey, if we’re going to come to New York, let’s stay in the city.’ So, we don’t know if that will happen again. There are a lot of people who have questioned how strong the World Cup will really be,” he said, adding it could be further impacted by countries having difficulties getting into the U.S.

Looking ahead to 2026, Pequeno noted the forecast is for more of the same for Jersey City/Secaucus.

“We’re anticipating that RevPAR growth of 4.5% will continue through the end of 2026,” he said. “That’s going to continue to be driven by ADR, which will grow 3.4% and we’re forecasting that occupancy will grow 1.1%. So, it looks like this submarket is trending in the right direction and is expected to continue to do so.”