Erie County’s hotel boomlet is continuing. Three hotels opened in the county this year with a combined 236 rooms, all in the city. Eight additional hotels are underway, four of which are in Buffalo. The city’s hotel inventory is growing by 26 percent over the next year or so. There are also a number of other hotels either being talked about or likely to be part of a mixed-use redevelopment project potentially adding hundreds of more rooms.

Here is a rundown of the number of new hotels (and rooms) according to Visit Buffalo Niagara.

New in 2014:

• Courtyard by Marriott Downtown: 102 rooms

• Hilton Garden Inn: 124 rooms

• Foundry Suites: 10 rooms

TOTAL: 236 rooms

Opening in 2015:

• Hyatt Place (Amherst): 137 rooms

• Home 2 Suites (Cheektowaga): 107 rooms

• Aloft Hotel (airport): 153 rooms

• Springhill Suites (Lancaster): 94 rooms

• Marriott HARBORCENTER: 205 rooms

• Curtiss Hotel: 68 rooms

• 250 Delaware: 120 rooms

TOTAL: 884 rooms

Under Construction, 2016 Opening:

• Hotel Henry: 88 rooms

Total number of hotel rooms in Erie County:

9,927 currently, not including “under construction rooms”

Total number of hotel rooms in Buffalo:

1,824 currently, not including “under construction rooms”

Total number of hotel rooms in Buffalo including under construction:

2,305; 26 percent increase

That’s not all. Other properties are expected to have a hotel component:

• AM&A’s Reuse

• 1159 Main Street

• Elmwood/Forest Mixed Use

• Main/Seneca (24 rooms)

• Seneca One Tower

• Statler City

• The Carlo

• Trico Redevelopment

Thus far, even with the expanded room inventory, the county’s hotel occupancy rate has remained fairly steady. Hotel owners, managers and tourism officials have their work cut out for them, but as the region’s attractions continue to grow, the growth in accommodations appears to mirroring what appears to be a true urban renaissance underway. Whether the hoteliers predicted the sudden turnaround, or helped to spur the projects that will ultimately fuel their developments, the whole ‘chicken and the egg theory’ is finally being put to the test.