Sixteen Cities in the U.S. Will See a 10% or Greater Increase in Hotel Rooms Due to New Construction / March 1998

Hotel Online Press Releases

16 Cities in the U.S. Will See a 10% or Greater Increase in Hotel Rooms Due to New Construction

NEW YORK---March 23, 1998-Bear Stearns' lodging equity research team reports that there are 16 markets in the U.S. where new room additions equal or exceed 10% of existing supply:

**16 U.S. Lodging Markets with Supply Growth Exceeding 10%**
	Total Census Properties		All Projects in Start		as % of Census Properties
Lodging Market	Properties	Rooms	Properties	Rooms	Properties	Rooms
Fort Worth - Arlington, TX	136	16,395	35	3,536	25.7%	21.6%
Raleigh - Durham, NC	130	15,887	28	3,142	21.5%	19.8%
Phoenix, AZ	263	40,402	66	7,335	25.1%	18.2%
Dallas, TX	317	48,639	64	8,134	20.2%	16.7%
Greenville - Spartanburg, SC	100	10,218	23	1,673	23.0%	16.4%
Seattle, WA	236	27,007	29	4,379	12.3%	16.2%
Austin, TX	132	15,813	20	2,358	15.2%	14.9%
Denver, CO	162	26,797	33	3,624	20.4%	13.5%
Oakland, CA	135	15,753	19	2,129	14.1%	13.5%
Birmingham, AL	99	12,068	13	1,544	13.1%	12.8%
Nashville, TN	226	28,264	34	3,241	15.0%	11.5%
Charlotte, NC	184	21,449	25	2,445	13.6%	11.4%
Salt Lake City - Ogden, UT	134	16,270	19	1,845	14.2%	11.3%
Kansas City, MO-KS	153	20,960	21	2,202	13.7%	10.5%
Atlanta, GA	512	73,104	65	7,435	12.7%	10.2%
Boston, MA	222	35,109	21	3,496	9.5%	10.0%

Source: Bear, Stearns Co. Inc.; Coopers Lybrand L.L.P.; F.W. Dodge; Smith Travel Research.

This data was reported in the recently-released fourth-quarter edition of the Bear Stearns Supply Demand Chronicle which, among other things, looks at the current state of the hotel construction market using data from the F.W. Dodge Construction Pipeline database.

"Excess supply could become a problem in several U.S. markets." said Jason N. Ader, a senior managing director and senior lodging industry analyst with Bear, Stearns Co. Inc. "In the top-five markets for new room starts, supply growth ranges from 16.4% to 21.6%. Dallas especially continues to be a concern, and we foresee a tough operating environment in that market on the horizon."

Dallas tops the construction markets with 8,134 rooms under construction, followed by Atlanta (7,435 rooms), Phoenix (7,335 rooms), Orlando (6,824 rooms), and Chicago (5,059 rooms). Together, these five markets account for 19% of the total number of rooms under construction. By contrast, construction activity in eight major East and West Coast urban markets (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles) totaled 16,987 rooms, or only 8% of all rooms under construction. Constraints and self-regulation appear to be at work in major urban markets on the East and West coasts, limiting new property development before these markets become overbuilt.

Bear, Stearns Co. Inc., a leading worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, is the major subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC). With approximately $14.8 billion in total capital, Bear Stearns serves governments, corporations, institutions, and individuals worldwide. The company's business includes corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales and trading, private client services, derivatives, asset management, correspondent clearing, securities lending, and custody services. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 8,700 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; and an international presence in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Paris, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.

###

Contact: Bear, Stearns Co. Inc., New York Mary Flounders Green, 212/272-4356 or Shandwick, New York Adam Brecht, 212/591-9771