The proposed 130-room Cambria Suites in White Plains, NY

Choice Hotels is swiftly steering its Cambria Suites brand toward center-city locations in major gateway cities, a departure from the brand’s original growth pattern in secondary and tertiary markets. Last week at The Lodging Conference in Phoenix, the brand announced three new major-market projects with top-tier developers.

“The brand has done very well in secondary markets, but we believe a big part of its future lies in center-city locations,” said Choice President & CEO Steve Joyce in making the announcement. To further promote expansion of the brand, particularly in key markets, Choice provides a variety of financial, operational and marketing support. “This should send a clear message to the development community that we’re in the game to help them build the best hotels that provide them with the best potential returns.”

Last week’s trio of development announcements are in new markets for Cambria with two developers new to the brand:

Concord Hospitality developing a 182-room Cambria as part of the CityMarket at O mixed-use project in Washington, DC.

• Concord Hospitality, a developer and operator with more than 80 hotels in its portfolio, will develop Cambria Suites properties in Washington, DC and in Houston. The 182-suite DC hotel will be part of CityMarket at O, a $300-million mixed-use complex near the city’s convention center and the Gallery Place entertainment district. The CityMarket at O, which DC-based Roadside Development is creating, will include 87,000 square feet of retail, 629 residential units, 500 parking spaces and the Cambria Suites hotel.

Concord’s hotel in Houston will be a 127-suite property near the Houston airport.

• Meyer Jabara Hotels is also developing a Cambria that will be part of a mixed-use development. The firm will break ground next year on the 130-unit hotel in a $47-million retail and office complex under development in White Plains, NY.

The three Cambria projects announced last week aren’t the first in the chain’s center-city strategy. Earlier this year, two New York City developers signed development contracts for Cambrias in Manhattan. Extell Development Co. is building a 194-room Cambria in the Times Square area, while first-time hotel developer Robert Chun of We Care Trading Co. will open a 140-suite property in Chelsea.

Choice has committed significant resources to grow the Cambria brand, which debuted in 2007. Nearly 20 hotels are open and, as of June 30, another 31 were under contract. In addition to financing assistance to qualified projects, the company funds property-level directors of sales and maintains a dedicated development sales team for Cambria.

Not surprisingly, Joyce is bullish on new development for Cambria and, to some extent, the company’s other 10 brands. “I believe the industry has three or four years of a good run ahead of it, and if owners can open hotels next year or in 2013 they’ll have some good tailwinds behind them.”