Too many keys, too few takers in Miami-Dade’s hotel market

Citing weak demand, banks are pulling back on financing new rooms

Key International is looking for opportunities outside of South Florida, including this Embassy Suites hotel in St. Augustine.
Key International is looking for opportunities outside of South Florida, including this Embassy Suites hotel in St. Augustine.

From the June issue: Miami-Dade has occupancy issues. As tourism slumps in the wake of last year’s Zika virus threat and the ongoing financial and political unrest in Latin America, hotel development experts continue to warn that the supply of new rooms in Miami-Dade is far outstripping demand, and falling occupancy rates bear that out.

Some projects on the drawing board may not break ground, and others in the planning and construction phases will face even tougher financing hurdles in the coming months.

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“Miami is the darling of the hotel developer community,” industry analyst Jan Freitag told The Real Deal. “But supply growth is outpacing demand growth, so it is not unreasonable to assume that occupancy will continue to slide down. And that makes future development tough to justify.” [more]