BOSTON: A Time to Build
Looking for a good place to plop a new hotel? Try Beantown. Investor interest in building makes sense since few hotels are for sale and existing assets saw increases in occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR in 2013, says PKF director of hospitality services Andrea Foster. And 2014 looks even stronger. Throughout the region, 49 new hotels totaling 7,831 rooms are in the pipeline, she says; CSM Corp just started permitting for a 153-room hotel in Marlborough, while Carpenter & Co is planning a $700M, mixed-use project that includes a five-star hotel in Back Bay. Next year, PFK forecasts sustained growth; Boston metro occupancy is likely to hit 74%, ADR at $187.38, and RevPAR at $138.65.
At the Seaport, construction started on Phase 1 of the Convention Center’s $1B expansion with two mid-priced hotels, while the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) just issued an RFP for a $700M, 1,200-room HQ hotel to service conventioneers. The nearby Envoy is under construction and slated to open April ‘15. Numbers show this may not be excessive building; this year, the MCCA expects 461,000 rooms to be booked, up from 424,000 in '12. Carpenter’s Richard Friedman, who’s advancing his plan for One Dalton (above), says there’s amazing amount of capital trying to enter this market. The economy is growing, and for the first time in decades, so is Boston's population.
