Eco-Luxe Miami Hotel Shows NY How to Do It
It’s now been just five months since 1 Hotel & Homes arrived with fanfare at 23rd and Collins. Walk in the lobby, and Barry Sternlicht’s nature-inspired creation is filled with the fragrance of greenery and reclaimed wood. Apparently it's also filled with paying guests.
Dressed in beach business casual, these ownership guys look happy for good reason: LeFrak's Scott Meyer and Michael Tillman, and Starwood Capital's Kane Sarhan, tell us July occupancy was nearly 100%, and that 40,000 guests have come through since opening day. Some of the attractions: rooms an average size of 700 SF, door keys made of wood chips, and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio's three venues with names like Beachcraft, Sandbox, and Tom on Collins. The property had been the Gansevoort Hotel, which was doing well until the financial crisis. In 2011, Starwood Capital and LeFrak, having bought a lot of Corus Bank's Florida real estate loans, detected South Americans coming back to Miami to buy, and jumped at the chance to acquire it.
The design of each 1 Hotel is intended to reflect its local surroundings, so in Miami, of course, the aesthetic is all about the ocean, sand and sun. And not just 600 linear feet of beach, but four big pools, one of which is 110 feet long on a 20k SF rooftop with long bar that hops at night. A planned 15k SF will add to the glamour.
Three weeks ago, the second 1 Hotel opened, this one in New York at 57th and Sixth near Central Park. It’s more "Northeastern," and smaller with 229 "nests." But of course it features a three-story green wall planted with herbs.
A third 1 Hotel, in Brooklyn (did you know the borough could be this green?) is due to be completed by early 2016, a JV of Starwood and Toll Brothers. Rumor is that two more are planned for Asia and Latin America.
