It's been a long and rocky road for the three-story former homeless shelter and budget hotel at 510 West 42nd Street, and that includes the stones that were yanked off the building's kitschy facade late last year. Those sudden renovations, as well as the involvement of some big names, stirred our interest in the vacant dumpy building, and the Post later confirmed an ownership change and a new lease on life for the ex-Travelodge. Today the Daily News reports that the property will stay a hotel following a $20 million renovation by Parkview Developers, but here's the twist: The name will be The Out NYC, and it's going to be the city's first gay boutique hotel.
So what makes a hotel "gay?" Well, besides the location within an on-the-rise gayborhood, we're not quite sure. Oh, but there is this:
One of the keys to the hotel's success may be the planned 10,000-square-foot, 750-patron dance club. Reiser and Weiderpass are working with gay nightlife king John Blair, who holds the cabaret license for the old xl nightclub that closed several years ago on W.16thSt. in Chelsea, the Gay City News reported.A big gay dance club inside the hotel? This ain't your momma's Midtown crash pad! The 123-room hotel will also have a spa, restaurant, café and shops, and Community Board 4 will vote on the project in two weeks. Closing another loop, The Out NYC appears to be the Spanish-backed Hell's Kitchen gay hotel that Gawker passed along word of last month. Maybe the bears will ditch Balazs for good and bring their honey jars uptown? Yeesh, what a dirty mind you have! We meant disposable income.
· Hell's Kitchen to become home of city's first gay boutique hotel, complete with major dance club [NYDN]
· 510 West 42nd Street coverage [Curbed]
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