David J. Sangree, President of Hotel & Leisure Advisors, was interviewed by WKSU radio for a broadcast about the hotel boom occurring in Northeast Ohio. H&LA has completed several hotel feasibility studies and hotel appraisals on proposed Northeast Ohio hotels in recent years. Below is a transcript of the broadcast. 

By TIM RUDELL
Broadcast: October 2014

Drive from the north side of Akron to south of Canton and you’ll see six hotels being built. And at least that many looking bright and new because they just opened. There is a hotel boom along the I-77 corridor…and throughout the region.  WKSU’s Tim Rudell reports.

David Sangree is president of the investment consulting firm, Hotel & Leisure Advisors. “There’s at least 12 properties that we’re tracking in the Akron-Canton market that are under construction or proposed.” 

Half a dozen of those projects involve Corporex Capital,real estate investors from Kentucky. Vice President Nick Heekin says eastern Ohio’s shale boom is part of the reason for the aggressive building. But he says there’s a long-range, progressive development vision, too.

“Billions of dollars are being invested in the region by not only day to day drilling, but midstream projects. And ultimately we’ll see companies that are benefiting from cheap energy move into the region as well.”

Too much?
With so many new hotels could there be “over-build?”

Both Sangree and Heekin say “possibly” but that a lot of due diligence during planning suggests not. To listen to the broadcast, click here