Brooklyn Hotel Buzz: Boom and Doom
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce hosted a hotel development panel yesterday where participants shared plenty of tasty treats about the hospitality industry’s plans for Kings County. Architect Gene Kaufman, developer Sam Chang of McSam Hotel Group, Hotel Le Bleu’s general manager Robert Gaeta and Heather Parsons of PLC Partners (which is building the 300-room Cambria…
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce hosted a hotel development panel yesterday where participants shared plenty of tasty treats about the hospitality industry’s plans for Kings County. Architect Gene Kaufman, developer Sam Chang of McSam Hotel Group, Hotel Le Bleu’s general manager Robert Gaeta and Heather Parsons of PLC Partners (which is building the 300-room Cambria Suites at 75 Schermerhorn) held forth about the state of Brooklyn’s hotel market. Some highlights:
– Hotel mogul Chang (who built the Comfort Inn on Butler Street, the Holiday Inn Express on Union Street, and is about to start construction on a 200-room Hyatt at Nevins and Schermerhorn) is totally over Brooklyn and pessimistic about the fate of the thousands of hotel rooms currently planned for the borough. What will happen after 3,000 rooms are built? said Chang. “I don’t like it. It’s enough. I’ve stopped buying in Brooklyn.”
– The team behind 4th Avenue’s Hotel Le Bleu has a far less ballyhooed project set to open within the next few weeks. Hotel Le Jolie at 235 Withers Street is going to have rooms priced between $200 and $350 a night, according to general manager Robert Gaeta. It will be Williamsburg’s first hotel, said Gaeta. (Though whether it’s actually in Williamsburg rather than Greenpoint is open to interpretation, we think.) Gaeta also had some strong words for the haters out there who don’t think Le Bleu is going to find takers for its $300-$500 a night rates. I think some of the people writing these blog sites may not be able to afford $400 a night, he sniffed. (You’re right!) Gaeta opined that someday, 4th Avenue will become a boulevard for Brooklyn.
– The credit crunch is going to cause a bit of a shake out for some hotel developers, said Gene Kaufman. The architect (who designed the two hotels slated for Duffield Street) thinks that projects “that don’t make sense won’t get built as borrowers find it harder to finance their developments. And Chang said he’d personally experienced the effects of the crunch because lenders are now looking for 30 to 35 percent equity from borrowers, whereas two months ago they only expected 10 percent.
Duffield Street Hotel Double-Shot Revealed [Brownstoner]
Schermerhorn Street: Not Crappy for Much Longer [Brownstoner]
Hotel Le Bleu Opening Still Stalled [Brownstoner]
Until, 1:06, staples and Pep Boys sell and 12 story condos are built. Then Novo-ers will get cranky. Speaking of, when is Novosupposed to get finished and populated?
the hotel doesn’t actually overlook pep boys/staples/taxi depot…they are next door but it’s windows all face either manhattan or across 4th ave (novo/jj byrne park).
and while staples & pep boys may not be much to look at for buyers at the novo, it pretty much guarantees they will have unobstructed views of the skyline over the tops of the stores.
$350 for us is like $200 for your friends in Berlin. Our whole country is on sale! Everything half-price!
Please, Tribeca is where all the Europeans stay. Everyone knows it.
But is anyone doing hourly?
or travelling all the way to new york to hit all 50 h&m’s…cause i never see any tourists doing that either.
park slope is a lovely neighborhood that has friendly bars and coffee shops, terrific restaurants, an incredible park, a greenmarket, flea markets and the largest enclave of intact late 19th and early 20th century architecture in the country.
i see why europeans (and others) would enjoy that.
if you don’t, i think YOU’RE kinda pathetic.
2:09 – versus traveling all the way to Hawaii and going to the beach? – cause we know no one does that!
People are so short-sited as well as no historical memory
Of course 4th Ave is no where as nice as the area surrounding The Downtown Marriot – TODAY – when the Marriott opened the area wasnt much better then 4th Ave (except for Manhattan proximity) and it is across the street (now next door) to the Brooklyn Criminal Supreme Court and Family Ct. Hardly an ideal location for a Hotel – much less the 1st 1 in Brooklyn for 50 yrs.
Most people thought the Marriot would be a failure or at least need assistance but they were wrong and it was such a success that they had to DOUBLE in size and now building the Marriott seems like a no brainer.
Sure the area around Le Blue is crappy TODAY- but in case you havent noticed, at least 10 projects are close to completion or underway with probably a dozen more to follow. 4th Ave is not going to look like 4th Ave in 5yrs BUT the owners of Le Blue will have built when the land costs and area was cheaper. Seems like a smart move to me and if they have to lower prices and carry the place for awhile, the capital gain on the real estate alone should easily make operation worthwhile.
The fact that it hasnt opened doesnt speak well for their management but really reflects nothing in terms of the viability of a Hotel like this at this site.
As for the price – I’d sooner spend $350 to stay at a nice hotel then $150 to stay at that comfort inn on Butler but that is me – but I am sure I’m not alone.
Things change and while sometime in the future it might have seemed dumb to build so many rooms in or near downtown, I’d bet that the decision to build a Hotel on 4th Ave will also seem like a no brainer in 10years.
Coming all the way from Europe and then spending your time hanging out in Park Slope? I find that kind of pathetic.