In today’s US construction news, read about how, as of the first quarter of 2024, Dallas led the top five U.S. markets with the highest building pipeline, according to Lodging Econometrics. With 185 projects totaling 21,882 rooms, the Dallas market is just slightly below its record highs as of the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. On the other hand, a U.S. Navy ship and other Army vessels are constructing a floating platform offshore the enclave as part of an American-led attempt to deliver additional aid to the embattled Gaza Strip. The project, which the Pentagon said will cost at least $320 million, is underway.
With 185 Projects in the First Quarter, Dallas Leads the US Construction Pipeline
Original Source: LE: DALLAS LEADS U.S. CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE WITH 185 PROJECTS IN FIRST QUARTER
As of the first quarter of 2024, Lodging Econometrics reports Dallas has the greatest building pipeline in the U.S. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Dallas had 185 projects with 21,882 rooms, slightly below record highs.
According to LE’s U.S. Construction Pipeline Trend Report, Atlanta has 153 projects with 17,929 rooms, followed by Nashville with 127 projects and 16,199 rooms. Phoenix followed with 123 projects and 16,198 rooms, and Southern California’s Inland Empire established a record with 121 projects and 12,324 rooms.
New York had 47 projects and 7,655 rooms by the end of the first quarter, Dallas 25 and 3,059 rooms, and Nashville 22 and 2,828 rooms. The Inland Empire has 20 projects with 2,181 rooms under construction, whereas Atlanta had 21 projects and 2,588 rooms.
Next project begins
LE said Dallas has 77 projects and 9,269 rooms scheduled to start in the next year, followed by Atlanta with 56 and 6,656 rooms, Phoenix with 56 and 6,853 rooms, the Inland Empire with 54 and 5,369 rooms, and Nashville with 49 and 6,600 rooms.
The report noted a record 2,662 early-planning projects and 300,686 rooms nationwide. At the conclusion of the first quarter, Dallas had 83 early planning projects and 9,554 rooms, leading the U.S. Atlanta followed with 76 projects, 8,685 rooms. Next were Nashville (56 projects, 6,771 rooms), Austin (51, 5,608), and Orlando (49, 11,442).
Renovations, announcements, conversions
LE reported 105 pipeline projects with 10,219 rooms in the top 25 U.S. markets in Q1 2024. New York leads new project announcements with 12 projects and 1,660 rooms, Orlando 11 and 2,706, Atlanta 10 and 1,139, Denver 8 and 2,013, and the Inland Empire 8 and 886.
First-quarter refurbishment and brand conversion activity increased nationwide, with 2,041 projects and 266,405 rooms in the pipeline.
LE reported that 31 remodelling and conversion projects and 4,857 rooms in Los Angeles were the most in the first quarter. New York, Atlanta, and Chicago followed with 30 projects and 8,020, 3,488, and 8,128 rooms, respectively. Phoenix ended the first quarter with 28 projects and 5,100 rooms under refurbishment or conversion.
The top 50 markets saw 60 hotels and 10,036 rooms open in the first quarter, with 114 hotels and 15,506 rooms opening nationwide. LE expects these 50 markets to open 255 projects/30,502 rooms in the next three quarters, totaling 315 projects/40,538 rooms in 2024.
NYC tops 2024 hotel openings
Dallas had 16 new hotels and 2,013 rooms, Inland Empire had 15 new hotels and 1,559 rooms, Atlanta had 14 new hotels and 2,732 rooms, and Orlando had 13 new hotels and 2,364 rooms in 2024. New York City led the competition.
In 2025, LE experts predict Atlanta and Dallas will open 20 hotels with 2,141 and 2,092 rooms, respectively. Houston added 19 hotels and 1,962 rooms. Phoenix and New York finish as top markets with 18 new hotels and 2,912 rooms and 17 and 2,906 rooms, respectively.
LE stated that the U.S. building pipeline hit a new high in the first quarter of 2024 with 6,065 hotels and 702,990 rooms, up 9% and 7% from the previous year.
Americans Are Building a $320 Million Pier to Bring Assistance to Gaza
Original Source: Pier to deliver aid to Gaza under construction by U.S. will cost at least $320 million
The Pentagon announced Monday that a U.S. Navy ship and three Army vessels are offshore of the Gaza Strip creating a floating platform to carry more aid in, which would cost at least $320 million.
Sabrina Singh, Pentagon spokeswoman, told reporters the project’s overall cost includes equipment and pier sections travel from the U.S. to Gaza, building, and humanitarian delivery.
Associated Press satellite photographs from Monday show the USNS Roy P. Benavidez, a Bob Hope-class vehicle cargo ship operated by the Military Sealift Command, roughly 5 miles from the port on shore, where the Israeli military is building the project’s base of operations. With the Benavidez, the Army logistics vessel USAV General Frank S. Besson Jr. and several other Army vessels are building the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system.
The Planet Labs PBC satellite image from Sunday showed parts of the floating pier in the Mediterranean Sea alongside the Benavidez.
Late last week, a U.S. military officer verified that the Benavidez had begun construction and was far enough offshore to protect troops building the platform. Singh announced Monday that the causeway will be built and moored to the beach.
US and Israeli officials expect to install the floating pier, attach the causeway to the coast, and begin operations by early May. The surgical expense was initially reported by Reuters.
Aid will be placed onto Cyprus commercial ships to sail to the floating platform being built off Gaza under the U.S. military plan. Trucks will load pallets onto smaller ships that will travel to a metal, floating two-lane causeway. IDF will connect the 550-meter (1,800-foot) causeway to the shore.
An American Army engineering unit has trained with an IDF engineering unit on an Israeli beach up the coast to practise causeway erection in recent weeks, according to a U.S. military officer.
The new port is southwest of Gaza City, north of an Israeli military road that cuts Gaza in half during the war against Hamas. Before the Israeli ground offensive drove over 1 million Palestinians south towards Rafah on the Egyptian border, the area was the territory’s most populous.
Israeli military fortifications now flank the port, which World Central Kitchen helped rebuilt from the wreckage of buildings Israel destroyed. The endeavour was ended on April 1 when an Israeli airstrike killed seven World Central Kitchen charity workers in plainly marked cars on an Israeli-authorized distribution assignment. The group says it’s back in Gaza.
Long truck queues awaiting Israeli inspections have slowed aid entering Gaza. The U.S. and other governments have dropped food into Gaza by air. The U.S. military officer said sea route deliveries will start at 90 trucks per day and might rise to 150.
Aid organisations say hundreds of vehicles are needed daily to reach Gaza.
After Hamas’ Oct. 7 raid on Israel, which killed 1,200 and kidnapped 250, Israel blocked off or substantially restricted food, water, medication, electricity, and other supplies from entering Gaza. Israel maintains the situation is improving under U.S. and other pressure, while UN agencies believe more aid is needed.
Gaza, with 2.3 million inhabitants and twice the population of Washington, is on the brink of hunger. Local health authorities believe over 34,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the fighting began.
On Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari indicated Gaza aid would increase.
He stated, “This temporary pier will provide a ship-to-shore distribution system that will further increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
Al-Hayya, a top Hamas leader, told the AP that Israeli or foreign personnel guarding the pier would be “an occupying force and aggression,” and the militant group would confront them.
A mortar attack on Wednesday hit the port facility, but no one was harmed.
Summary of today’s construction news
In summary, as of the end of the first quarter, Dallas had the highest count of projects in early planning among all U.S. cities, with 83 projects and 9,554 rooms in total. Atlanta subsequently added 8,685 rooms and 76 developments.
On the other hand, Gaza has seen a delayed influx of aid due to lengthy truck backlogs awaiting Israeli inspections. Food has also been sent into Gaza by airdrops from the US and other countries. Deliveries via the maritime route, according to a U.S. military officer, will start out at roughly 90 trucks per day and may quickly rise to about 150 trucks per day. According to relief organisations, hundreds of these trucks are required each day to reach Gaza.
