Checking out hotel hotspots

Real Estate Weekly, March 22, 2006 by Faith Hope Consolo

After shopping until they drop and enjoying to-die-for dining, New York City visitors will no doubt seek out superb places to stay the night.

Hotel income is said to be the strongest in five years and 2006 is expected to rocket forward at an even faster pace.

Not to mention that hotel revenue in the Big Apple is increasing twice as fast as the rest of the country.

There is a massive morphing of hotels to condos and new and exciting developments are coming fast and furious to fill the void.

Here's an overview of Manhattan's dynamic hotel market: Conversions are a hot topic as developers are rapidly converting hotels into residences.

The St. Regis Hotel New York and The Gramercy Park Hotel will open in the spring with residential units as well as hotel areas, and the Stanhope Hotel will reopen as an entire residential complex. The Mark hotel on East 77th Street, between Madison and Fifth Avenues, and Swissotel's The Drake, at 440 Park Avenue and 56th Street, are the latest New York hotels going residential for cooperative apartments following the leaders--The Plaza, St. Regis, Mayflower and Stanhope.

CB Richard Ellis is also pitching the Amalgamated Bank Building at 15 Union Square West as a possible hotel and condo conversion.

Let's focus for a moment on new hotels entering the ring in 2006. Out with the old--also known as ex-hotels, now condos--and in with the new. Booming tourism equals a need for accommodations. By the end of 2007, New York City is adding nearly 5,000 new hotel rooms to the current inventory of around 79,000. According to NYC & Co., sixteen new hotels will open in 2006.

Brand hotels gracing our bustling city will include a 210-room, 16-suite Courtyard by Marriott at 410 East 92nd Street, and another in Harlem, at 125th Street and Park Avenue.

The first Residence Inn by Marriott has opened a 357-suite hotel at 100 West 39th Street. Wingate Inns will open in Queens as well as in Midtown, at 235 West 35th Street. Holiday Inn Express is coming to Brooklyn and will also add a location at 232-238 West 29th Street. Hilton Garden Inn will debut in Tribeca, at 2 York Street, and Four Points by Sheraton will head Downtown to Soho, at 66 Charlton Street. between Varick and Hudson.

Andre Balazs's eagerly anticipated 344-room Standard Hotel on West 13th Street, between Washington and West Streets, will be constructed at 848 Washington Street this year. The Downtown Hotel at Greenwich and North Moore streets also plans to open during 2006.

Also on the scene to fill tourists" void of accommodations is the Rockefeller Center Hotel at 25 West 51st Street. Downtown Loft Hotel Tribeca, at 130 Duane Street, is slated to debut. Newly unveiled by developer Vikram Chatwal is his new Night Hotel, at 132 West 45th Street. The Pomeranc family will complete the renovation of 6 Columbus Circle, neighboring shopping haven Time Warner Center.

Two brand-named mid-priced hotels are planned near Times Square. Sharing a rooftop restaurant and lounge, The Lam's Group plans to build a 250-room Sheraton Four Points Hotel on the site of West 40th and Eighth Avenue, as well as a Marriott Fairfield Inn. Both hotels are scheduled for 2007 openings.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has sold 38 of the properties within its vast portfolio (including hotels under the Sheraton, W, Westin, St. Regis and Luxury Collection brands) to Host Marriott Corporation for $4.1 billion. Starwood plans to focus on building more "W" hotels in Europe and expanding in Las Vegas with several sites, including a casino.

Harlem's historic Victoria Theater may be transformed into a hotel and cultural complex on West 125th Street. The 25 stories would include a hotel with condos, a ballroom, a community theater, exhibition space for Studio Museum in Harlem and a BB King supper club.

335 Bowery is now being transformed into a boutique hotel by developers Richard Born and Ira Durkier (of the Mercer) and Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson (Bowery Bar and the Park).

The 16-story hotel at the corner of Third Avenue will open this summer and is not going to be modern; instead it will look like it is from the early part of the last century. Major renovations will take place at Hilton New York, including a $49 million renovation, the creation of a 14.000-square-foot spa, the addition of plasma televisions to its rooms and refurbished public spaces. Sheraton New York is investing in upgrades as well, spending $50 million on renovation.

Within the hotel industry, it's not only about comfort anymore. As the industry faces fierce competition and customers with a more sophisticated and demanding taste, larger chains are trying to catch up to boutique hotels by redesigning their properties to appeal to a younger, more modern consumer.

The Hyatt Corporation, Marriott Hotels and Ritz Carlton have announced plans to launch new brands with location-specific designs, more comfortable lobby spaces that would work for intimate meetings and updated rooms with complete technology. The rooms will even feature more spectacular decor.