According to the Lodging Econometrics, 37 percent of hotel projects (2,145 properties) in the U.S. construction pipeline are in the midscale without food & beverage segment, tops among the eight segments tracked by the New Hampshire-based firm. At the end of the first quarter, the total pipeline included 5,807 projects with 779,307 rooms.

Independents and so-far-unbranded properties comprise the next largest group with 22 percent of the pipeline. Following are upscale (21 percent), economy (eight percent) and midscale with food & beverage (six percent). The remaining segments — casinos, luxury and upper upscale — each account for less than five percent of planned new-construction hotels.