New York City hotel scene ready for major growth

Boom town: New York City is slated to welcome dozens of new hotels. Credit: Javier Gil.

By Mark Chesnut

In the coming two or three years, Big Apple-bound travelers are going to find more options than ever when it comes time to make a hotel reservation. A recent report from hotel consulting firm Lodging Econometrics, first published in Crain’s New York Business, shows that New York hotels are in the midst of a major development boom — in fact, the city that never sleeps has become the fastest-growing in the nation in terms of new development.

According to the report, the current real estate climate is making it easier — and more cost-effective — for developers to build new properties, rather than buy existing ones. In addition, market demand is proving sufficient for more hotel rooms to be added. As a result, some 50 new hotels are to open through 2013, with 68 more to follow in 2014, for a total of 118 new properties in less than three years.

The new hotel projects will include gut renovations of office buildings and former single room occupancy (SRO) facilities, as well as new builds on the site of demolished structures. Among the developers is boutique hotel pioneer Ian Schrager, whose company has agreed to buy a site in the city. In addition, Starwood Capital Group plans to spend some $400 million to transform the site of the New York Public Library’s Donnell branch, on West 53rd Street in Manhattan, into a complex that will include a hotel, condominiums and a library. Also in the works is the OUT NYC, a “straight-friendly,” LGBT-targeted boutique hotel on West 42nd Street, which will have 105 rooms and an 11,000-square-foot bar and nightclub.

The new surge in investment puts the Big Apple in the league of Shanghai and Dubai, which have enjoyed explosive growth in hotel development.

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Mark Chesnut is a travel writer, editor and publisher of LatinFlyer.com, which focuses on travel to Latin America. He loves hotel beds.

Tagged: Hotels, New York