Jones Lang LaSalle
Hotel occupancy: Going up?
By KARA L. RICHARDSON
Staff Writer
Some neighbors and a would-be competitor of two hotels proposed for Route 22 in Bridgewater have suggested that there isn't even enough demand for existing hotels.
Hampton Inn and Hilton Homewood Suites don't have to prove need, however, to win approval. And if they did, occupancy rates at hotels in the Bridgewater area are indeed on the rise.
So far in 2006, the occupancy rate is 55 percent for 10 hotels in the "Bridgewater area" as defined by Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based research company. The rate was 50.4 in 2002.
Although rising, the rates are below state and national hotel-occupancy averages of 57.2 and 61.3 percent, respectively, according to Smith Travel Research.
Lawrence Powers, an attorney for Briad LLC, said the Livingston-based developer is betting on future Route 22 construction to fuel the growth in occupancy rates.
"It's a travel hub," said Powers. "My clients think it's only going to get that much better."
The hotels would be built in the Greymark office complex on Route 22 East by Adamsville Road, near an existing Days Inn. The company needs Board of Adjustment permission to build four-story hotels on property zoned for two-story structures and to build hotels on land zoned for commercial office space.
Briad likes the site because it is within five miles of major traffic arteries -- I-287, I-78 and Routes 202-206 and 28 -- Powers said. Route 22 itself handles about 100,000 vehicles daily, according to Somerset County, with multimillion-dollar safety, beautification and capacity improvements planned.
Powers also said the Village at Bridgewater Commons mall -- a $40-million lifestyle shopping center with a Crate & Barrel and Maggiano's Italian Restaurant -- is a sign that the market is improving.
"The needs of high-end travelers are underserved for this area," Powers said.
Powers said that when George Bruck, a partner with Bridgemark LLC, which owns the property, travels to Bridgewater for the Tuesday night hearings on the application, he can't get a room at the Bridgewater Marriott.
"Yes, we do well on Tuesdays and Wednesdays," said Bridgewater Marriott general manager Chris Hosmer, "but we struggle to fill the hotels on the weekends."
Hosmer sees the market a little differently, saying there aren't enough activities and attractions, such as festivals and museums, to increase Bridgewater hotel occupancy rates, including those for weekends.
"There are no new demand generators that are coming into the market," Hosmer said. "If you don't have additional demand and you increase the supply (of hotels), that 57 percent (average occupancy rate) is going to erode to a much smaller number," Hosmer said.
Steven Belmonte, a Randolph-based hotel industry consultant at Hospitality Solutions, said occupancy rates can be misleading because many hotels catering to business travelers are empty on the weekends.
There are more than 30 hotels in Somerset County, with a total of more than 4,100 rooms and an average room rate of $110 per night, county officials have said. Recent additions include three Marriott hotels and the $30 million Sierra Suites hotel on Route 22 in Branchburg.
"Typically we have seven years of feast, seven years of famine," Belmonte said about the hotel industry. "However, the most recent hotel boom -- I have to confess is unlike anything I've seen in my 30-year career."
Bridgewater Board of Adjustment Chairman George Harlan confirmed that land-use laws do not require an applicant to prove a market need for its business.
Applicants instead must demonstrate, for instance, that exceptional conditions of the property require a certain building design or that the proposed use is especially suited to the property. Ultimately, applicants must show that relief can be granted without substantially impairing the intent and purpose of the township's Land Use Ordinance.
Still, the topic of demand has surfaced at Board of Adjustment hearings nonetheless.
A manager at Holiday Inn Express in Branchburg questioned the need for more hotels, saying that his hotel has not reached 50-percent occupancy since it opened in 2005. Smith Travel Research says the hotel has averaged 41.6 percent occupancy.
Bridgewater-area hotels in the Smith Travel Research occupancy-rate study are:
Hyatt Summerfield Suites in Bridgewater
Bridgewater Marriott
Hilton Garden Inn Bridgewater
Days Inn Bridgewater
Red Bull Motor Inn in Bridgewater
Super 8 Motel in Raritan Borough
Sierra Suites in Branchburg
Holiday Inn Express in Branchburg
Pine Motel in Branchburg (now closed)
Red Mill Inn in Branchburg
The Board of Adjustment hearings on the proposal will resume at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Bridgewater Township municipal courtroom, at 505 Route 202-206.
Kara L. Richardson can be reached at (908)707-3186 or krichard@c-n.com.
from the Courier News website www.c-n.com
Hotel occupancy: Going up?
By KARA L. RICHARDSON
Staff Writer
Some neighbors and a would-be competitor of two hotels proposed for Route 22 in Bridgewater have suggested that there isn't even enough demand for existing hotels.
Hampton Inn and Hilton Homewood Suites don't have to prove need, however, to win approval. And if they did, occupancy rates at hotels in the Bridgewater area are indeed on the rise.
So far in 2006, the occupancy rate is 55 percent for 10 hotels in the "Bridgewater area" as defined by Smith Travel Research, a Tennessee-based research company. The rate was 50.4 in 2002.
Although rising, the rates are below state and national hotel-occupancy averages of 57.2 and 61.3 percent, respectively, according to Smith Travel Research.
Lawrence Powers, an attorney for Briad LLC, said the Livingston-based developer is betting on future Route 22 construction to fuel the growth in occupancy rates.
"It's a travel hub," said Powers. "My clients think it's only going to get that much better."
The hotels would be built in the Greymark office complex on Route 22 East by Adamsville Road, near an existing Days Inn. The company needs Board of Adjustment permission to build four-story hotels on property zoned for two-story structures and to build hotels on land zoned for commercial office space.
Briad likes the site because it is within five miles of major traffic arteries -- I-287, I-78 and Routes 202-206 and 28 -- Powers said. Route 22 itself handles about 100,000 vehicles daily, according to Somerset County, with multimillion-dollar safety, beautification and capacity improvements planned.
Powers also said the Village at Bridgewater Commons mall -- a $40-million lifestyle shopping center with a Crate & Barrel and Maggiano's Italian Restaurant -- is a sign that the market is improving.
"The needs of high-end travelers are underserved for this area," Powers said.
Powers said that when George Bruck, a partner with Bridgemark LLC, which owns the property, travels to Bridgewater for the Tuesday night hearings on the application, he can't get a room at the Bridgewater Marriott.
"Yes, we do well on Tuesdays and Wednesdays," said Bridgewater Marriott general manager Chris Hosmer, "but we struggle to fill the hotels on the weekends."
Hosmer sees the market a little differently, saying there aren't enough activities and attractions, such as festivals and museums, to increase Bridgewater hotel occupancy rates, including those for weekends.
"There are no new demand generators that are coming into the market," Hosmer said. "If you don't have additional demand and you increase the supply (of hotels), that 57 percent (average occupancy rate) is going to erode to a much smaller number," Hosmer said.
Steven Belmonte, a Randolph-based hotel industry consultant at Hospitality Solutions, said occupancy rates can be misleading because many hotels catering to business travelers are empty on the weekends.
There are more than 30 hotels in Somerset County, with a total of more than 4,100 rooms and an average room rate of $110 per night, county officials have said. Recent additions include three Marriott hotels and the $30 million Sierra Suites hotel on Route 22 in Branchburg.
"Typically we have seven years of feast, seven years of famine," Belmonte said about the hotel industry. "However, the most recent hotel boom -- I have to confess is unlike anything I've seen in my 30-year career."
Bridgewater Board of Adjustment Chairman George Harlan confirmed that land-use laws do not require an applicant to prove a market need for its business.
Applicants instead must demonstrate, for instance, that exceptional conditions of the property require a certain building design or that the proposed use is especially suited to the property. Ultimately, applicants must show that relief can be granted without substantially impairing the intent and purpose of the township's Land Use Ordinance.
Still, the topic of demand has surfaced at Board of Adjustment hearings nonetheless.
A manager at Holiday Inn Express in Branchburg questioned the need for more hotels, saying that his hotel has not reached 50-percent occupancy since it opened in 2005. Smith Travel Research says the hotel has averaged 41.6 percent occupancy.
Bridgewater-area hotels in the Smith Travel Research occupancy-rate study are:
Hyatt Summerfield Suites in Bridgewater
Bridgewater Marriott
Hilton Garden Inn Bridgewater
Days Inn Bridgewater
Red Bull Motor Inn in Bridgewater
Super 8 Motel in Raritan Borough
Sierra Suites in Branchburg
Holiday Inn Express in Branchburg
Pine Motel in Branchburg (now closed)
Red Mill Inn in Branchburg
The Board of Adjustment hearings on the proposal will resume at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Bridgewater Township municipal courtroom, at 505 Route 202-206.
Kara L. Richardson can be reached at (908)707-3186 or krichard@c-n.com.
from the Courier News website www.c-n.com
posted by Jones Lang LaSalle NJ News Blog at 9:37 AM
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