Raleigh-Durham-Cary-Chapel Hill Area Hotel Development, Construction & Transactions

The Raleigh-Durham-Cary-Chapel Hill metro area combines the Durham-Chapel Hill and Raleigh-Cary MSAs, spanning the counties of Chatham, Durham, Franklin, Johnston, Orange, Person, and Wake. The combined area currently supports a sizable hotel development pipeline anchored by a major convention center hotel project and a broad mix of upscale and upper midscale construction activity. With 19 projects totaling 3,517 rooms tracked by Lodging Development, the market reflects sustained investor and developer interest across multiple communities including Apex, Cary, Garner, Morrisville, and downtown Raleigh.

The largest project in the Raleigh-Durham-Cary-Chapel Hill pipeline is the 600-room Omni Hotel Raleigh Convention Center, an upper upscale property being developed by Omni Hotels & Resorts and currently in construction. Also under construction is the 249-room Courtyard and Residence Inn Cary at the Arboretum, being developed by Daly Seven, along with the 138-room TownePlace Suites Raleigh Downtown from Summit Hospitality Group and a 125-room WoodSpring Suites near Triangle Town Center from Concord Hospitality Enterprises.

Among the 19 projects currently tracked by Lodging Development, the pipeline is led by upscale properties, which account for eight projects and 1,287 rooms. Upper upscale developments contribute five projects totaling 1,421 rooms — driven significantly by the Omni — while five upper midscale projects add another 684 rooms. A single economy-scale project rounds out the pipeline.

Over the past 24 months, Lodging Development has tracked seven hotel openings across the Raleigh-Durham-Cary-Chapel Hill metro area, delivering a combined 957 rooms to the market. The most recent is the 124-room Residence Inn Cary Raleigh, which opened in mid-May 2026. The largest opening during this period was the 261-room Tempo by Hilton and Homewood Suites Raleigh, which opened in late 2024. Other notable additions include the 149-room Hyatt House Raleigh/Downtown, the 110-room SpringHill Suites Raleigh Garner, and the 120-room Hampton Inn & Suites Mosaic at Chatham Park in Pittsboro.

In the 18-month period ending January 2026, Lodging Development tracked six hotel transactions of $10 million and above across the Raleigh-Durham-Cary-Chapel Hill metro area, with documented sale prices totaling approximately $114.3 million across four of those deals. The highest-priced transaction was the sale of The Casso, Raleigh, a 126-room Tribute Portfolio property, which traded for approximately $38.1 million in March 2025 to Dauntless Capital Partners. In late 2025, the 94-room SpringHill Suites Raleigh Apex sold for $18.7 million to The Focus Properties, while the 108-room Sonesta ES Suites Raleigh Cary changed hands for $10 million. The data points to consistent institutional interest in the metro area's select-service and extended-stay segments.