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Hotel demand helps fuel city’s economic recovery
As the holiday season approaches, demand for temporary lodging in New York is high — with an average price of $300 a night and some 180 hotels being planned or built. And according to Forbes, the surge in the hotel sector is fueling the city’s commercial real estate recovery, as demand outweighs the supply of properties.
Early this month, Blackstone Group acquired the Motel 6 brand and its approximate 1,100 owned or franchised properties in a $1.9 billion deal. And since Blackstone took Hilton Hotels private in 2007 it has become the fastest growing major hotel chain.
Holiday Inn is planning to build the chain’s tallest hotel — 50-stories — in Lower Manhattan, in order to capitalize on the millions of visitors who each year come to see the National September 11 Memorial. And Riu Hotel & Resorts recently made a $110 million deal for a half-acre development site on Eighth Avenue, which will become the company’s first NYC hotel.
According to Forbes, Manhattan is likely to continue to see new hotel investment, upgrades and construction, as increasing tourism and rising prices stimulate developers. [Forbes] –Christopher Cameron