The opening date for Long Island City's Aloft hotel is set, according to parent company Starwood's website, for Dec. 31, 2010, but don't book the rooftop bar for your New Year's Eve rager just yet. The Real Deal reports that one of the lenders is suing to recover a $17.2 million loan made to the Brooklyn-based developer of the project, and when paired with the fact that the site has been vacant for a year?well, let's just say the news doesn't necessarily point to a bright future for the 16-story, 249-room hotel. Aloft, created by Starwood as a budget alternative to its hip line of W hotels, raised some eyebrows with the announcement of its first NYC locations. "On the rise" neighborhoods were the focus, and in addition to the somewhat dicey Queens Plaza location in LIC, Harlem and Downtown Brooklyn were also targeted for a bit of boutique style. (A Chelsea Aloft has since been added.) There's been a boutique hotel boomlet of late in LIC, with the Ravel and Z Hotel, but has the neighborhood's Schragerization been derailed?
· U.S. Bank seeks $17M from Queens Plaza hotel developer [Real Deal]
· Aloft NYC - By the Bridge [starwoodhotels.com]
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