Shangri-La to manage Spectacular Hotel in New York

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts recently signed development and operating agreements with RFR Holding LLC, and a client of ING Clarion Partners, to construct a 206-room luxury hotel in the Park Avenue corridor of Midtown Manhattan, New York. Shangri-La will operate the property, the Shangri-La Hotel, New York which is expected to open in 2010,  under a long-term hotel management agreement.

The hotel will be in a new 64-story tower adjacent to the landmarked Seagram Building, built on the site of the former YWCA building at 610 Lexington Avenue. It will have a dedicated entrance on 53rd Street between Park and Lexington avenues.

The unique design for the slender 709-foot-tall tower calls for exterior columns incorporated into the building’s faceted curtain wall, using low iron glass to achieve a crystal clear appearance of the tower. The hotel’s ground floor lobby will have a soaring 100-foot atrium with skylight, providing the striking sense of arrival that Shangri-La guests have long appreciated in many of the group’s Asian hotels.

State-of-the-art elevators operating at 1,400 feet per minute will whisk guests from the lobby to guestrooms. In keeping with the contemporary interpretation of luxury as space, Shangri-La plans to offer the largest guestrooms in Manhattan, and they will feature floor-to-ceiling glass windows affording expansive views of Park Avenue, Central Park and Midtown. More than one third of the rooms will be suites and nearly all rooms will be over 500 square feet. Deluxe rooms will range in size from 641 to 940 square feet, while suites will be 1,023 square feet and up.

The Shangri-La Hotel, New York will be the first US hotel property designed by renowned architect Lord Norman Foster. The interior design team will be led by Jean-Michel Gathy, founder and head designer of Kuala Lumpur-based Denniston International Architects & Planners Ltd. The interiors will be contemporary in style with Asian influences.

Sixty-six of the 206 guestrooms will be sold as condominium hotel units. These units will be operated as part of the hotel and interspersed throughout hotel floors. In addition, 17 ultra high-end residential condominiums ranging in size from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet will occupy the top 10 floors of the tower. Residents of the private condominiums will have dedicated elevators, access to Shangri-La amenities and services, plus a tailored range of customized household services.

One of the hotel’s highlights will be Shangri-La’s signature spa brand – CHI, The Spa at Shangri-La. CHI combines Chinese and Himalayan healing therapies, inspired by the mysticism of the Shangri-La legend captured in James Hilton’s famous Lost Horizon novel. CHI’s spacious private spa suites will be among the largest in the city, offering a “spa within a spa” atmosphere.

The hotel will have an 80-foot swimming pool and sundeck with a retractable roof on the ninth floor. Other facilities will include a fitness center; business center; 5,000 square feet of function space, all with windows; and a signature retail shop. The hotel will also have a lobby lounge with sidewalk café; ground-floor bar and second floor restaurant that will feature two private dining rooms.

“We searched long and patiently for the ideal partners and property for our New York debut and have found them in this special project,” said Giovanni Angelini, Shangri-La chief executive officer and managing director. “This hotel will be a perfect complement to our high-profile developments underway in Paris, London, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, Maldives and others. Even more important, we look forward to becoming an active and involved corporate citizen in this amazing city and newly adopted home.”

Site preparation and construction of the hotel is expected to begin late 2007.

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