Dive Brief:

• The citizenM hotel chain, which has used modular construction methods on many of its U.S. and European properties, will start construction on a Gensler-designed hotel in Hollywood, California, as soon as next year, Curbed Los Angeles reported.
• According to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning's draft environmental impact report (EIR) for the project, the 185-foot-tall hotel will include 240 rooms, 2,742 square feet of amenity space and almost 5,400 square feet of public and guest space atop five levels of underground parking. 
• Release of the draft EIR positions the company to start construction in 2020, with estimated completion in 2022. The city is taking comments on the draft EIR until July 30.

Dive Insight:

Earlier this month, citizenM broke ground on another hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Mortenson is leading construction of the Gensler-designed building. The project, like many other citizenM hotels, will have prefabricated modular units. 

Mortenson was also the general contractor for a citizenM hotel in Seattle. That project saw Polcom, citizenM's modular unit supplier in Poland, ship to the jobsite 228 steel-framed hotel rooms, which were assembled on top of a traditionally built base, according to Building Design + Construction. The rooms came from the factory with beds, televisions, fixtures, doors and windows and were wrapped and pressurized for the trip overseas. 

Modular construction is particularly compatible with hotel, hospital and apartment projects because they have many of the same units throughout. Plus, working low to the ground, building the units in a factory is less dangerous than on a jobsite and workers develop expertise that speeds construction and turns out a consistent, high-quality product. 

Major hotel companies like Marriott International have also have embraced modular construction. Earlier this year, Marriott announced that it would build the tallest modular hotel in the world in New York City after introducing an aggressive modular program a few years ago for several of its low-rise brands including Courtyard by Marriott.

The $65 million, 360-foot tall AC Hotel New York NoMad will feature 168 modular room units stacked on top of a restaurant and lobby, which will be built using traditional construction methods. The hotel will also offer a modular rooftop bar. One of the goals of this property, according to project architect Danny Forster, is to showcase modular construction not just as a way to build efficiently but as a method that "can produce a graceful and iconic tower" as well.