BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK ON FEBRUARY 11TH 2014 AT 6:00 AM
17 West 24th Street – image via Google Maps
Plans for an 18-story hotel at 17 West 24th Street are evidently making progress, after demolition permits for the site’s existing structure were filed last week. Previous filings from 2012 indicated that Kaufman would be the project’s architect, and Suzuki Capital LLC is developing the project.
While much of Chelsea’s nicer pre-war stock is getting demolished, this won’t be the case at 17 West 24th Street; the current/former building is a five-story tenement with a salmon-toned facade, and its removal will be no great loss to the neighborhood. Indeed, the latest Kaufman addition may actually be an improvement — which speaks to how quickly West 24th Street is developing, and the fact that so many derelict and under-utilized sites remain.
Permits for the new hotel were rejected after the initial filing two years ago; the small scope of 17 West 24th Street limits what any developer can build, because the lot is so narrow.
Eventual plans are likely to be similar to Kaufman’s initial design, which would have had 68 rooms spread over 18 floors, and contained 25,000 square feet in total. That would likely place the development in the ’boutique’ category, which would be a natural fit for the building’s increasingly upscale NoMAD surroundings. No completion date has been announced.
Architect Gene Kaufman has designed a black “boutique style hotel” temporarily called “Prime Hotel” for 17 West 24th Street between Broadway and Avenue of the Americas, the architect told Commercial Observer. And Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects was tapped to handle the interior design.
The 18-story hotel will have 68 guest rooms, a restaurant and a 1,000-square-foot rooftop lounge with a bar, said a source with intimate knowledge of the project. One-third of the rooftop will be indoors. There should be a “nice view” of Madison Square Park and the former Metropolitan Life Tower, Mr. Kaufman said.
The developer, Hag Gyun Lee of Eben Ascel Corp., will manage the hotel, the source said. Mr. Lee wasn’t immediately reachable for comment.
It is really inconceivable that there’s no editing team in New York City’s City Planning Department. The Manhattan urban/historic fabric is being disgraced as we speak without any regulations, design intentions, vision… Quality should be imperative for City Planning.
While I agree to some extent, especially with certain neighborhoods, we can’t overall (citywide) make it even more regulatory to build. NYC is already extremely hard to get a project rolling (don’t let the boom fool you, its still a challenge for developers not to mention extremely expensive; sometimes land costs more than a skyscraper). There is a huge demand that needs to be serviced, and more regulation will make it even harder to get stuff done. Remember, NYC is not a museum. It is a growing, living community that needs to expand and sticking to the past will only hinder its potential to compete in the 21st century.
Sometimes, quality needs to be sacrificed in order to meet certain quotas, especially when it comes to economic quotas. If we look around at all of the developments, there are great developments, and some that are a little mediocre, but nevertheless, it gets the job done, especially for example when it comes to the much needed Class A office space or hotel units.
Even though there are tons of hotels going up, and the units are in high numbers, in this city, its not enough to keep up with the demand. Especially if we are to look at residential units.
