Attraction Hotels In Fort Lauderdale|"What's Fueling Increased Growth In Houston's Hotel Supply & Demand?"

Source             :   bizjournals.com
Category        :   Attraction Hotels In Fort Lauderdale
By                  :   Josh Mitelman
Posted By     :    Hotels In Fort Lauderdale

Attraction Hotels In Fort Lauderdale

It's a good time to be in the hotel business in the greater Houston area, a new report from San Francisco-based hotel consultant PKF Consulting LLC shows. The annual report, done on behalf of the Hotel & Lodging Association of Greater Houston and based on survey results from 60 general managers of local hotels, predicts that demand for Houston-area hotel rooms — which increased 4.5 percent through the second quarter of 2013 — will increase 2.3 percent in 2014, 4.2 percent in 2015, 5.2 percent in 2016 and 4 percent in 2017.

Numerous factors are driving the predicted increase in demand, including:

• the booming oil & gas industry;
• convention activity, which is expected to get a major boost when the 1,000-room Marriott Marquis convention center hotel is completed (scheduled for 2016);
• Exxon Mobil Corp.'s (NYSE: XOM) new corporate campus in Springwoods Village;
• Southwest Airlines' (NYSE: LUV) new international terminal at Hobby Airport, set for completion in 2015;
• and major sporting events on the horizon, including the NCAA Final Four in 2016 and the Super Bowl's return to Houston in 2017.

Meanwhile, supply — much of which coming from the Marriott Marquis — will increase accordingly. The number of rooms in greater Houston will increase 1.6 percent in 2014, 2.9 percent in 2015, 4.8 percent in 2016 and 6.3 percent in 2017, the report states.Other new Houston-area hotels on the horizon include four others downtown:

• the 200-room Westin Houston Downtown (formerly the Inn at the Ballpark), set to open Oct. 10;
• a Holiday Inn Flagship, on the site of the former Savoy Hotel on Main St.;
• a 250-room JW Marriott, scheduled for completion in 2014;
• and a 166-room SpringHill Suites, by mid-2015, which will accompany the current 191-room Courtyard Houston Downtown Convention Center and the 171-room Residence Inn Houston Downtown Convention Center.

In addition to downtown, the increase in rooms will be concentrated in the energy corridor and the Galleria/Greenway area, according to the report. "While adding new supply, we're at 69 percent occupancy, not 55 percent like during the recession," said PKF Vice President Randy McCaslin, who presented the report Thursday to hundreds of hotel executives at the Hilton Americas-Houston hotel downtown. "That makes a big difference in turns of being able to absorb new supply." The average occupancy rate at Houston-area hotels through the second quarter of 2013 was 67.8 percent — up nearly 2.5 percent from 2012 and up nearly 8 percent from 2011. The PFK report forecasts the occupancy rate for 2014 will be 68.3 percent, 69.1 percent in 2015, 69.4 percent in 2016 and 67.9 percent in 2017. McCaslin noted that an average occupancy rate above 65 percent is a signal that supply needs to increase. "Hold on to your hats — the next two years are going to be fun," he said.

Source : bizjournals.com/houston/news/2013/09/19/oil-gas-new-convention-center-hotel.html?page=2