Building photo via Property Shark
Will today turn out to be hotel day around here? Above is what may be the biggest graphic ever run on Curbed, but it's worth it, because this old printing plant at 653 11th Avenue is about to CHANGE A NEIGHBORHOOD, or something. As the Times reports today, the plant?owned by Pope-building dudes Horizen Global?is getting a three-story addition and a 222-room hotel called VU, operated by Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group, the gang behind 70 Park Avenue and the Muse hotels. In addition to 360-degree views of Manhattan and that other state across the Hudson River, what does this mean:
the Vu is the first new Midtown hotel going up far to the west of Times Square. If it is successful — as many industry executives predict it will be — it could pave the way for other hotels in the neighborhood. In fact, the Rockrose Development Corporation, which owns a 216,000-square-foot three-story industrial building at 660 12th Avenue, one block northwest of the Vu, which is now a Federal Express sorting center, has been talking to hotel developers for the last six months about leasing the 257,000 square feet of air rights above the building for construction of a hotel, said Patricia Dunphy, vice president.
The San Fran-based Kimpton has been looking to get into the Manhattan hotel game big time after passing on the site that eventually became the Gansevoort. Oops. Can the farthest reaches of Hell's Kitchen become the new Meatpacking District? God we hope so!
· Paving the Way for Hotels in Hell’s Kitchen [NYT]
· VU Hotel [horizenglobal.com]