Chelsea Developer to Build Two New Hotels for $750M

Developer John Lam is at it again. He recently purchased a parking garage on West 25th Street from Extell Development that he plans to raze and replace with a $350 million, 270,000-square-foot hotel tower. The block-long site just west of Sixth Avenue is the second building that Mr. Lam is planning to erect in the area. Next year, he aims to break ground on a $400 million, 450,000-square-foot hotel that will stretch along Broadway from West 29th to West 30th streets.

"The neighborhood is very exciting," Mr. Lam said, referring to the once gritty area north of Madison Square Park that in recent years has begun to blossom with the arrival of a number of trendy hotel and nightlife venues, including the Ace Hotel and the NoMad.

Mr. Lam said he plans to spend $350 million to develop a high-end hotel on his latest building site at 110 West 25th St. just west of Sixth Avenue.

 And he is familiar with the neighborhood. In recent years he developed a successful Four Points Hotel just down the block at 160 West 25th Street, an affordable hotel brand operated by Sheraton.

On Broadway, between West 29th and West 30th Streets, Mr. Lam will also spend upwards of $400 million to build another new hotel, which he intends break ground on early next year. He said he has reached a deal with Virgin Hotels to open its first U.S. hotel at the property.

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Additionally, he is in talks with another hotel operator to manage a second hotel at the property. Each hotel would occupy separate portions of the building and manage their spaces individually. The new building will rise in place of four adjacent properties, located at 1205, 1225 and 1227 Broadway, and 846 Avenue of the Americas.

The project will create about 750 hotel rooms, 400 of which fall under the Renaissance brand and the remaining 350 under Aloft.

The property will also boast more than 50,000 square feet of retail space on the lower three floors, which will be the largest new store space in the neighborhood.  "It's going to be a small shopping mall," Mr. Lam said.

The West 25th Street project, which Mr. Lam said will also begin construction early next year, will have less retail space, all of which will be on the ground floor.