Developers are laying plans or breaking ground to build hotels on at least six other sites in eastern Loudoun County, the second-fastest growing county in the nation. The surge in hotel development plans reflects how this segment has been neglected in the rush to build offices in this fast-growing area.

Ashburn Corporate Center is across the street from two of the massive office complexes that is attracting so much development to the area. The presence of America Online's headquarters and a huge MCI/WorldCom campus create a desirable communications node, wired by all the major fiber-optic Internet backbone carriers. The area has attracted several other companies that want to plug into either of these companies or tap into the fiber-optic cable and work force that is springing up around it. Combined with the presence of Washington Dulles International Airport, the nation's fastest growing airport, office space has been filling quickly.

That has created a lucrative business for area hotels. The average occupancy rate last year was 79% for eastern Loudoun hotels, compared with 71% nationwide, says one development official. Developers have been trying to catch up with this. The hotel supply has doubled to 950 rooms over the past 18 months.