Report: Tampa suburb No. 10 nationally for turning hotel rooms into apartments

A Tampa suburb was among the top 10 in the nation for repurposing hotel space into apartments in 2023, according to a new list from RentCafe.

Ruskin saw 158 apartments converted from hotel rooms last year, making it No. 10 in the country for hotel conversions, the rental site found.

Hotels have faced challenges in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, and outdated properties in particular have been offloaded to make way for apartments as demand for this type of housing rises, RentCafe reports. 

Hotel-to-apartment was the main way apartments were created from adaptive use in 2023. Of all conversion projects into apartments last year, 36% were hotels being converted, followed next by office buildings accounting for 28% and factories at 15%.

Topping the list for turning hotel rooms into apartments in 2023 was Manhattan with 733, followed by Albuquerque, New Mexico, with 300; Richmond, Virginia, with 291; and Hialeah with 251.

St. Petersburg may be on a future list for conversions; it is projected to convert units in hotels, community buildings and health care facilities into 620 apartments, according to RentCafe.

Clearwater is also expecting to add about 180 apartments through hotel conversions as well, RentCafe reports.