The 282-room hotel rising at 136 West 42nd Street will be branded a Hilton Garden Inn, the New York Post reported as it continues to track development along the block between Sixth and Seventh avenues.
Construction has begun on the mid-priced hotel, which is being developed next door to FelCor’s Knickerbocker Hotel by a joint venture of Highgate Holdings, Crown Acquisitions and Ashkenazy Acquisitions. Once construction is complete in 2014 Highgate will sell the hotel portion to Diamond Rock Hospitality for $445,000 per room. However, it will maintain control of the 25,000 square feet of retail space coming to the first floors of the structure.
Other improvements to the Post’s closely-watched block include the repositioning of 36,000 square feet of retail space at the MetLife building at 1095 Sixth Avenue, the creation of a 50,000-square-foot underground shopping shopping center where a subway entrance now stands, a new public plaza directly west of the 22,500-square-foot retail box on the block, and 10,000 square feet of retail space becoming available at the Knickerbocker. [Post]