Two new hotel projects are gearing up in northwest Rochester, which means the city could see at least four new hotels with about 375 rooms open in 2014.
Two developers plan to build a 77-room Comfort Inn and Suites and a 109-room Staybridge Suites along West Circle Drive in front of Costco .
Both projects have submitted plans to Rochester Building Safety Department with the hope of beginning construction this year.
Two other hotels — Homewood Suites on Second Street Southwest and La Quinta Inn and Suites in Shoppes on Maine — are already under construction. Homewood will have 108 rooms, and La Quinta will have 83.
Other hotels have been proposed for downtown Rochester, though they are in the very early stages.
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All of this activity doesn't surprise Brad Jones, president of the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"We knew that we were going to need more hotels," he said. "I think we'll hit 6,000 hotel rooms by the end of 2014."
Rochester has 5,359 rooms available now. That puts this city second in the state behind Minneapolis, which has more than 10,000 rooms.
Through August, occupancy at Rochester hotels is up almost 8 percent over last year. That means an average of 65 percent of local hotel rooms are filled at any time.
"That's huge growth in what's typically a very stable market," Jones said. "We're outperforming the trends throughout the country and the state. Whenever you see that, you'll see building projects start up."
