Group items tagged

THE REVPAR OF hotels in Phoenix is forecasted to reach $419 for Super Bowl weekend of February 10-12, the second-highest level for the event, according to STR. As the city also hosts Phoenix Open this week, the Friday through Sunday night occupancy may touch 94 percent and ADR to hit $445. According to STR, a unique volume of demand would push occupancy slightly higher than Phoenix's last host year in 2015 (93.7 percent) even though supply increased by 11.7 percent this year. The ADR level would rank third among host markets behind Miami in 2020 and San Francisco in 2016. "Phoenix's jump in RevPAR during its last Super Bowl host year was staggering, and this time around will be no different with big-time growth contribution from both occupancy and ADR," said Isaac Collazo, STR's vice president of analytics. "Demand speaks for itself, especially with consumer behavior around the event free of pandemic concerns-unlike the last two Super Bowls. Phoenix's ADR situation has different influences than recent host markets given inflation and having less upper-tier supply than a Los Angeles or Miami." The overall Phoenix market comprises 544 hotels with 70,488 rooms.

FRESH FROM SELLING off much of its portfolio, NewcrestImage recently agreed to purchase nine hotels in Arizona from G6 Hospitality, six branded Motel 6 and three branded Studio 6. The company expects to close the transaction in early March. The six Motel 6 properties Dallas-based NewcrestImage will purchase are: Mesa North, 152 rooms Phoenix West, 148 rooms Phoenix Tempe, 131 rooms Scottsdale South, 100 rooms Mesa South, 91 rooms Phoenix Airport, 61 rooms The three Studio 6 properties being acquired are: Tempe, 151 rooms Phoenix Deer Valley, 142 rooms Tucson East, 121 rooms "Acquiring properties, along with developing new hotels, are our two primary investment strategies for achieving growth in 2022," said Mehul Patel, chairman and CEO of NewcrestImage. "We look forward to creating fresh opportunities for these nine Arizona hotels in keeping with our operating philosophy, abilities, and track record." Arizona is an attractive market because its hotel occupancy is robust and above the national average," Patel said.

Stonehill CRE, the real estate arm of Stonehill, has finalized a $52 million senior loan agreement with Starpoint Properties to fund the construction of Lotus Point Apartments, a 245-unit multifamily development in Mesa, Arizona, within the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area. The construction of this four-story building is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2025, Stonehill said in a statement. "This investment mirrors our sought-after strategy - a quality property with an experienced sponsor in a growing market," said Taylor Pike, senior vice president at Stonehill CRE. "Phoenix stands as a strong job growth market due to diverse employment opportunities. Single-family home development has not kept pace, and with rising mortgage rates, well-located multifamily projects will remain in high demand." This 6-acre site, adjacent to a retail center and within walking distance of the metro light rail, will provide studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units, along with amenities such as a fitness center, clubhouse, co-working area, pool, and parking options, Stonehill said.

Apache Trail Tours is based at Goldfield Ghost Town and worth the short drive from Phoenix and surrounding towns. Combine your guided desert or canyon tour with the many old West amenities available at Goldfield Ghost Town.

DALLAS LEADS THE U.S. hotel construction pipeline for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to Lodging Econometrics. Among brands, Marriott International led the pipeline. Dallas had a record 173 projects with 20,707 rooms in the second quarter of this year, followed by Atlanta with 140 projects containing 18,131 rooms, Los Angeles with 124 projects with 20,365 rooms, New York, with 113 projects with 19,238 rooms and Phoenix with 108 projects containing 14,964 rooms, Marriott had 1,355 projects with 167,034 rooms, up 4 percent by projects year-over-year, tops the pipeline during the period. The Q2 2022 U.S. Construction Pipeline Trend Report said that major markets and popular tourist destinations in the U.S. reported highest occupancy rates since the pandemic began in early 2020 in the second quarter mainly due to robust leisure travel, group, and international travel. New York City with 78 projects with 13,063 rooms, Atlanta with 25 projects containing 3,905 rooms, Dallas with 25 projects with 3,725 rooms, Phoenix with 23 projects with 4,955 rooms and Los Angeles with 22 projects with 3,606 rooms are the top five markets with the most projects under construction during the end of June. They account for 22 percent of rooms under construction in the U.S.

U.S. HOTEL CONSTRUCTION declined for the seventh consecutive month in June, according to STR. Rooms in construction in New York City and Nashville represent a significant percentage of existing supply in those markets. Though at a slower pace, planning activity increases across the U.S. and developers are showing interest in Miami, Nashville and Phoenix, the report said. According to STR, there are 146,198 rooms under construction in the U.S. in June, down 20.1 percent when compared to same period last year. As many as 178,809 rooms are at final planning during the month, decreased 11.3 percent from last year and 281,190 rooms are at planning phase, an increase of 6.1 percent from June 2021. "The U.S. hotel pipeline continues to decelerate as we enter the second half of the year," said Carter Wilson, senior vice president of consulting, STR. "The continued increases in debt costs combined with the ongoing supply chain disruptions will likely delay projects from breaking ground this year, which will lead to a further decline in rooms in construction. On a national basis, new supply will not be a significant headwind for the future." New York leads the major markets in rooms in construction at 13,568 rooms in June, up 10.8 percent compared to last year, followed by Nashville with 3,939 rooms, up 7 percent, Phoenix with 4,388 rooms, an increase of 6.3 percent over last year, Atlanta with 5,991 rooms, up 5.5 percent and Detroit with 2,382 rooms, an increase of 5.1 percent over June 2021.

NEWCRESTIMAGE RECENTLY FINALIZED its purchase of the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, the final part of the company's acquisition of four LaQuinta-branded hotels in a joint venture between Highgate and Cerberus. The company closed on the other three hotels in the deal in August. The 281-room, 10-floor hotel, which will be managed by Highgate Hotels, along with the other hotels in the deal, will add 696 rooms to NewcrestImage's portfolio. The other hotels are the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Irving DFW North in Irving, Texas; LaQuinta Inn & Suites Anaheim in Anaheim, California; and LaQuinta Inn Phoenix North in Phoenix. "These four hotels symbolize our company's strategy of investing in properties and in markets that are well-positioned for long-term growth and prosperity," said Mehul Patel, managing partner and CEO of NewcrestImage.

DALLAS TAKES THE lead in top five U.S. hotel construction markets in the third quarter of 2023, setting a record with 189 projects and 21,840 rooms, according to Lodging Econometrics. The top markets all saw growth in new openings as well. Atlanta follows closely with 140 projects and 17,775 Rooms, while Nashville comes next with 122 projects and 16,046 rooms. Phoenix recorded 119 projects, totaling 16,455 rooms, while the Inland Empire reported 117 projects comprising 11,784 rooms, according to the third quarter United States Construction Pipeline Trend Report by LE. New York City leads with the highest number of projects under construction, totaling 46, and 8,386 rooms at the close of the third quarter, LE said. Phoenix follows with 26 projects and 5,353 rooms, followed closely by Atlanta with 26 projects and 4,354 rooms. Dallas trails with 25 projects and 3,178 rooms, and the Inland Empire with 23 projects and 2,386 rooms.

PEACHTREE HOTEL GROUP added seven hotels to its portfolio this week for $135 million. Three of the hotels also are part of Peachtree's third investment partnerships with San Mateo, California-based Verakin Capital led by partners Rupesh and Bimal Patel and Hiten Suraj. The new acquisitions include 829 rooms and are in five different states, according to Peachtree and its management division Peachtree Hospitality Management, which will operate all seven hotels. The new hotels are: The dual-brand Hilton Garden Inn Phoenix Tempe, University Research Park, 120 rooms, and Home2 Suites by Hilton Phoenix Tempe, University Research Park, 108 rooms, in Tempe, Arizona, which were built in 2017. Aloft Hillsboro-Beaverton in Hillsboro, Oregon, 137 rooms, built in 2017. Hilton Garden Inn Casper, 121 rooms in Casper, Wyoming, built in 2008. Home2 Suites by Hilton Eugene Downtown University Area, in Eugene, Oregon, 120 rooms, built in 2016. Home2 Suites by Hilton Pittsburgh/McCandless in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 119 rooms, built in 2013. Hilton Garden Inn West Lafayette Wabash Landing in West Lafayette, Indiana, 104 rooms, built in 2003.

REFLECTING THE NORMAL ebb and flow of spring break season, U.S. hotel performance has decreased in the fourth week of March from the week before, according to STR. Chicago and Phoenix saw rises in occupancy. Occupancy was 64.9 percent for the week ending March 25, down from 67.6 percent the week before and 0.6 percent down than the comparable week in 2002 and 6.3 percent down the comparable week in 2019. ADR was $158.61, down from $167.04 the week before, up 4.7 percent from last year and up 19.5 percent from 2019. RevPAR stood at $102.98 in the last week, down from $112.89 the week before and increased 4.1 percent and 12 percent against the same month in 2022 and 2019. Among the top 25 markets, Chicago saw the highest year-over-year increase in occupancy in the fourth week of the month, up 12.2 percent to 63.4 percent, while Phoenix witnessed the only occupancy lift over 2019, up 3.1 percent to 81.5 percent. Washington, D.C., reported the most substantial ADR, up 20.9 percent to $194.18, while RevPAR increased 33.4 percent to $139.83 year-over-year. Las Vegas reported the highest growths in the measuring of ADR, up 42.7 percent to $187.21, and RevPAR, which increased 31.5 percent to $148.86 percent, against 2019.

DALLAS LEADS THE top five U.S. markets in the largest construction pipeline as of the first quarter of 2024, according to Lodging Econometrics. The Dallas market has 185 projects with 21,882 rooms, slightly below the record highs at the close of the fourth quarter of 2023. Next came Atlanta, with 153 projects comprising 17,929 rooms, then Nashville with 127 projects and 16,199 rooms, as LE's U.S. Construction Pipeline Trend Report showed. Phoenix followed with 123 projects and 16,198 rooms, and the Inland Empire in Southern California set a new record high with 121 projects and 12,324 rooms. U.S. markets with the most projects already under construction by the end of the first quarter include New York with 47 projects and 7,655 rooms, Dallas with 25 projects and 3,059 rooms, and Nashville with 22 projects and 2,828 rooms. Atlanta had 21 projects and 2,588 rooms, and the Inland Empire currently has 20 projects and 2,181 rooms under construction.

Occupancy was 62 percent for the week ending April 16, down from 66.4 percent the week before and down 5.6 percent from 2019. ADR was $147.25 for the week, down from $150.45 the week before and up 14.4 percent from 2019. RevPAR reached $91.25 during the week, down from $99.93 the week before and up 8 percent from three years ago. Among STR's top 25 markets, Tampa saw the highest occupancy increase over 2019, up 3.2 percent to 76.6 percent. Phoenix posted the largest ADR increase in the week, up 33.8 percent to $189.16, over 2019.

U.S. HOTEL PERFORMANCE moved closer to pre-pandemic levels during the third week of November according to STR. It dipped, however, from the week before. Occupancy was 59.7 percent for the week ending Nov. 20, down from 61.6 percent for the week before and a slight decrease of 2.1 percent from the same period two years ago. ADR for the third week of the month was $126.66, down from $129.98 the week before and increased 1.7 percent when compared to two years ago. RevPAR decreased to $75.60 for the third week of the month from $80.02 the week before, and a slight drop of 0.4 percent for the same period in 2019. Among STR's top 25 markets, Phoenix saw the largest occupancy increase during the week under review, up 6.4 percent to 76.6 percent over 2019. Miami reported the largest ADR increase when compared to 2019, 25.5 percent to $207.72. Oahu Island, Hawaii, experienced the steepest occupancy decline from 2019, down 35.2 percent to 51.8 percent.

U.S. HOTEL CONSTRUCTION increased slightly in December after 25 consecutive months of decline, according to STR. Projects in the later stages of development saw a reversal in their decline and luxury projects were up. There are 159,344 rooms in construction during the month, up 0.3 percent, over Dec. 2021. As many as 213,066 rooms are in the final planning state, an increase of 15 percent over last year. STR pipeline data added that 240,092 rooms are under planning, a decline of 15.6 percent. New York City, Phoenix and Dallas are set to see the largest supply percentage increases from current construction. The luxury and upscale segments would see the most supply. "While the overall pipeline continued to contract year over year, December showed strength in the later phases of development," said Alison Hoyt, STR's senior director of consulting. "Over the past year, we've seen late-stage pipeline rooms consistently decline from 2021 levels, while rooms in the planning phase often showed double-digit growth. We started to see a change in this pattern in November, when final planning rooms significantly jumped year over year and planning rooms came down pretty firmly. The same occurred in December, with the only difference being construction increasing slightly over 2021. When looking strictly at volume, the in-construction phase has been fairly stable throughout the year, remaining under 160,000 rooms and showing month-over-month increases from July through October and again in December."

THE U.S. HOTEL industry is "beginning to get back to getting back to it," according to a speaker at The Lodging Conference 2022, held Sept. 19-22 in Phoenix. More than 2,500 people attended the event at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort, continuing the industry's return to normalcy after more than two years of pandemic. Talk of the economy during the conference was mostly positive, though concerns about the labor shortage remained high as well as some apprehension about overall economic stability. Women were strongly represented on the stage with the awarding of the annual Castell Award. AAHOA's leadership team also contributed to the conference conversation.

THE U.S. HOTEL construction pipeline ticked up in September for the third consecutive month, according to STR. Also, year-over-year declines have been lessening each month since May. In STR's pipeline, 156,861 rooms were in construction during the month, down 8.9 percent from the same time last year. Another 173,932 rooms were in final planning, down 15.5 percent, and 282,225 rooms were planning, up 7 percent. New York City, Phoenix and Nashville are set to see the largest supply percentage increases from current construction, according to STR. Among the chain scales, the luxury and upscale segments led in that measurement.

THE U.S. HOTEL construction pipeline grew 9 percent by both projects and rooms year-over-year, according to the latest U.S. Construction Pipeline Trend Report from Lodging Econometrics. It stood at 5,545 projects with 658,207 rooms at the close of the first quarter of 2023. Meanwhile, the hotel construction pipeline in the top 25 markets in the U.S. also registered year-over-year growth in the first quarter. Dallas had a record 184 projects with 21,810 rooms at the close of the first quarter, followed by Atlanta with 144 projects containing 18,242 rooms, Los Angeles tally stood at 118 projects with 19,066 rooms, Phoenix with 117 projects with 16,100 rooms and Nashville had 115 projects containing 15, 354 rooms, LE report revealed. In another report, LE analysts also detailed the leading franchise companies and their brands in the construction pipeline at the close of the first quarter. Marriott International tops the charts with 1,499 projects containing 181,377 rooms, followed closely by Hilton Worldwide, with a record-high count of 1,436 projects with 161,359 rooms, and then InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) with 809 projects containing 80,679 rooms. Combined, these three franchise companies comprise 68 percent of the projects in the total U.S. pipeline, LE said.

DALLAS-BASED INVESTMENT firm NewcrestImage will acquire four LaQuinta-branded hotels in a joint venture between Highgate and Cerberus. The properties, with 696 rooms total, include the LaQuinta Inn & Suites at Los Angeles International Airport that is NewcrestImage's first gateway location in California. The company, led by Mehul Patel as managing partner and CEO, also has received the Partnership Circle Award from Marriott International, a statement said. NewcrestImage closed on the LaQuinta Inn & Suites Irving DFW North, located two miles from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, on July 14. It expects to close in August on the other three hotels, including the LaQuinta Inn & Suites LAX, as well as LaQuinta Inn & Suites Anaheim and LaQuinta Inn Phoenix North. "These properties are uniquely-positioned in strategic destination locations, making them very appealing as we structure a strong investment-based portfolio," Patel said. Mahmood Khimji, Highgate's managing principal, said the four hotels are "well-located and well-positioned." "We are excited to expand our activities with Mehul and the talented NewcrestImage team, along with our friends at Wyndham - all of whom share Highgate's commitment to delivering exceptional guest experiences and operational results," Khimji said.

BWH HOTEL GROUP has announced the recipients of the first ever David and Louise Kong Legacy Scholarship. The scholarship grants financial assistance to individuals associated with Best Western Hotels & Resorts. The four winners are Alexis Heichman of Eagle, Ashley Hernandez, of Patterson, and Phoenix residents Katerina Rose Levendi and Kayla McMahon, the group said in a statement. They will receive $12,000 as part of funding. Heichman will begin her journalism studies at Arizona State University this fall. She wants to be a travel, cultural or sports correspondent. Hernandez will continue her bachelor's degree studies in hotel and hospitality management. She is currently the general manager of the Best Western Plus Villa Del Lago Inn. Levendi now studies business at Paradise Valley Community College and wants to become a human resources manager. McMahon will start studying business administration and management at Arizona State University this fall. Her career interests is in family law and business. The scholarship is given to member hoteliers or their children, hotel staff or their children, and corporate associates or their children, the statement added.

U.S. HOTELS REACHED record-breaking ADR level during the last week of December, particularly by luxury resorts, according to STR. STR's top 25 markets also led the expansion. Occupancy was 54.3 percent for the week ending Jan. 1, up from 44.3 percent the week before and increased 10.7 percent when compared to 2019. ADR was $157.91 for the week, up from $129.67 during the fourth week and up by 15.1 percent compared to two years ago. RevPAR was $85.74 during the week under review, up from $57.46 the week before and increased 27.4 percent compared to 2019. STR's top 25 markets all together reached almost $200 in ADR, led by Miami with $455.31 and Oahu with $411.47. Norfolk/Virginia Beach recorded the largest occupancy increase during the week, up 25.3 percent to 49.4 percent. Phoenix registered the largest ADR increase, increased 36.9 percent to $155.71.