Minneapolis hotel occupancy reaches pre-recession heights

Minneapolis' hotel occupancy rate was 72 percent at the end of 2013, the highest mark since 2005.

The local hotel market has rebounded strongly since falling to a low of 59 percent occupancy at the height of the Great Recession in 2009.

Occupancy last topped 70 percent in 2007 and has only hit 72 percent twice since 1999

“We believe the momentum of the 2014 events coming to Minneapolis will drive the 2014 annual occupancy level to 73 percent,” Meet Minneapolis CEO Melvin Tennant said in a statement. “Our bookings suggest 685,000 attendees at 2014 events on the books currently, but we know we will add additional events throughout the year that will increase that estimate. This should be a banner year for Minneapolis meetings and events.”

Meet Minneapolis, the city's official convention and visitors bureau, also notes that occupancy rates above 70 percent often signal an opportunity for new development within a market - and, in fact, that is starting to happen downtown.

Mortenson Development just broke ground on a Hampton Inn near the First Avenue music venue, Heartland Realty Investors plans to convert the historic Plymouth Building at Sixth Street and Hennepin Avenue into an upscale Conrad Hotel and Mortenson has proposed a hotel project near the new Minnesota Vikings stadium.

The broader Twin Cities hotel market is performing well, with occupancy rates of 70 percent and 63 percent in Bloomington and St. Paul, respectively.

Reported by:  Greater Mpls-St Paul Business Journal