Knickerbocker Hotel - by Marvin & Davis, Bruce Price and Trowbridge & Livingston

[Kris]

August 22, 2003

After More Than Four Years of Reconstruction, a Landmark Is Unwrapped in Times Square

By DAVID W. DUNLAP

More resplendent now than when it disappeared four and a half years ago, the former Hotel Knickerbocker has emerged from a cocoon of scaffolding, netting and billboards to reclaim its place as the Beaux-Arts tiara of Times Square.

When scaffolding enveloped the 16-story landmark at Broadway and 42nd Street in March 1999, it was supposed to be only until the following year. But the complex job of restoring the facade "grew threefold," said Gerard Nocera, executive vice president of S L Green Realty Corporation, which owns the building.

So ever since the end of the 20th century, the most architecturally exuberant corner of the Times Square crossroads had been encased in an exoskeleton covered with advertising for the Gap, Target and Apple.

In recent days, it finally came back to light: a vibrant facade of red brick alternating with quoin-edged bays of terra cotta and limestone ornament, some of it painstakingly reproduced in fiberglass-reinforced concrete, under a crested, three-story mansard roof, much of which has been replaced with copper that already has a verdigris patina.

"We watched the release of the Knickerbocker from her commercial corset with a mixture of excitement and anticipation," said Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Business Improvement District, employing a full measure of gilded-age hyperbole with a hint of Times Square naughtiness. "And we are thrilled that she has now bared her beauty for all the world to see."

Even the normally understated Robert B. Tierney, chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, could not restrain himself yesterday when he heard the scaffolding had come down. "That's spectacular," he said. "I'm ecstatic."

Speaking of the elaborate facade, James R. Pesci Jr., a vice president of S L Green, said: "What you see is the jewelry. What you're not seeing is the skin and bones." By that, he meant the new air-conditioning, plumbing, electrical service and bathrooms, and the renovated lobby.

The Knickerbocker Hotel opened in 1906 and counted Enrico Caruso among its guests. (At the time, the Metropolitan Opera was only three blocks away.) It boasted of having two direct underground entrances to the new subway system.

These were closed long ago. The Knickerbocker failed as a hotel and in 1921 was turned into an office building. Now known as 1466 Broadway or 6 Times Square, it is largely inhabited by garment showrooms. There are also three floors of offices.

Some faint vestiges of Knickerbocker days remain. The elevator lobby has a rosette-studded vaulted ceiling that reproduces the original, parts of which were found above a dropped ceiling. In the basement and subbasement are bits of paneling and wainscoting, some hexagonal white tile, and a herringbone-pattern brick floor that may once have been part of the hotel's wine cellar.

The most tantalizing remnant, however, is not at 6 Times Square at all but in the Times Square subway station. Over a door at one end of the shuttle platform is a lintel inscribed simply, "Knickerbocker."


Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/ny/newyork/postcards/knbocker.jpg

From forgotten-ny.com
http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Knickerbocker%20page/knicker.jpg

[Edward]

The view of Times Square Tower (http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/10xsq/default.htm) under construction and Knickerbocker Hotel from Avenue of the Americas. 2 August 2003.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/times_square_tower/times_square_tower_knickerbocker_hotel_2aug03.jpg (http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/10xsq/default.htm)

[Kris]

Landmarks has nothing to say about that redhead?

[JMGarcia]

Maybe historically that wall was used for advertising.

[NoyokA]

It should be fully restored and be made into a hotel again, either that or build more modern offices overhead.

[dbhstockton]

I thought it was taking so long precisely because it was being restored to use as a hotel. *I'm a little dissapointed that it's not, but it's nice to finally see the classic facade instead of ugly scaffolding. *It's a perfect foil to all that new glass.

[billyblancoNYC]

It'll be a remarkable picture when 1BP is built across the street - all the new towers, TS, and this beauty stuck in between. *Classic.

[Jack Ryan]

Kind of reminds me of the old Astor Hotel. I sure miss that one.

[ablarc]

Kind of reminds me of the old Astor Hotel. I sure miss that one.
Yeah, and Astor was even better.

[antinimby]

New Owners Plan to Bring Knickerbocker Hotel Back to Times Square


By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: June 5, 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/05/nyregion/05cnd-hotel.html)

The Knickerbocker, a Beaux-Arts landmark in Times Square, has served as an unremarkable warren of offices and textile showrooms for the past 85 years.

But the new owners — the royal family of Dubai — want to restore the Knickerbocker to its glory, when it was an elegant hotel nicknamed the 42nd Street Country Club, where Enrico Caruso often stayed, where Maxfield Parrish's 30-foot long painting, "Old King Cole," hung, and where, some say, the martini was invented.

The royal family bought the 16-story red brick building at the southeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street last week for $300 million and said it planned to convert the office space into a five-star hotel with 250 to 300 rooms. With its terra cotta and limestone ornaments on the façade and a three-story mansard roof, the Knickerbocker still stands out in a resurgent Times Square.

"At this point, everything seems to be a go for turning it back into a hotel," said David L. Jackson, chief investment officer for Istithmar, an investment arm of the royal family. "We think there's room for at least one higher-end hotel catering to the business and entertainment community."

In a telephone interview on Saturday, Mr. Jackson said the company expected to select an architect within the next two weeks. The plans would have to be approved by the city's Landmark Preservation Commission.

The Knickerbocker is only the latest item the royal family has picked up in a gold-plated shopping spree in Manhattan. Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, the oil-rich Arab emirate on the Persian Gulf, has been eager to diversify his investments.

Istithmar expects to close tomorrow on the $1.2 billion purchase of 280 Park Avenue, a 43-story, 1.2 million-square-foot skyscraper. In the last eight months, it has closed on the 40-story tower at 450 Lexington Avenue for $600 million and the 34-story, gold-crowned building at 230 Park, between 45th and 46th Streets, for $705 million. Last year, a separate Dubai company bought the Essex House, an Art Deco hotel on Central Park South, for $440 million.

In January, Istithmar acquired Inchcape Shipping Services, a British company that operates in more than 20 United States ports, including New York-New Jersey. A bid by another Dubai company, DP World, to take over the operation of some major American terminals that was dropped after an outcry in Congress.

The Knickerbocker has changed hands a number of times in recent years, with each new owner considering a hotel conversion. But Istithmar appears to be serious about it. The Hotel Knickerbocker opened during the Gilded Age in 1906, financed by John Jacob Astor and designed by Marvin & Davis, Bruce Price and Trowbridge & Livingston. George M. Cohan was among its frequent guests and Caruso sang for fans from the balcony of his suite.

Some historians of the cocktail credit the hotel's bartender, Signor Martini di Arma di Taggia, with inventing the martini in 1912. Parrish's painting of "Old King Cole" hung in the main barroom, but was later moved to the St. Regis hotel. But the fashionable hotel did not last; it closed in 1921. It was known as the Newsweek Building from 1940 to 1959, when the magazine made its home there.

Still, its value has continued to soar. Istithmar bought the property from Sitt Asset Management, which had acquired the building in 2004 for $160 million.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[antinimby]

The royal family bought the 16-story red brick building at the southeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street last week for $300 million and said it planned to convert the office space into a five-star hotel with 250 to 300 rooms.Folks, that's a lot of money for a not-so-large building. Nearly one million a room. Staggering.

[LeCom]

Well they paid 1.2 billion for this crap:

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2001/02/121395.jpg

600 mil for this:

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2001/07/101942.jpg

Good ol Helmsley went for 705 mil:

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/412847.jpg

[londonlawyer]

The view of Times Square Tower (http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/10xsq/default.htm) under construction and Knickerbocker Hotel from Avenue of the Americas. 2 August 2003.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/times_square_tower/times_square_tower_knickerbocker_hotel_2aug03.jpg (http://www.wirednewyork.com/skyscrapers/10xsq/default.htm)

This is great news. The Knickerbocker building is magnificent!

P.S.: It seems like so long ago that the corners of 42nd and 43rd and 6th were infested with these filthy buildings! Thank goodness they're gone!

[jeffpark]

A. the building on park is NOT CRAP

[londonlawyer]

TO WHICH BUILDING ON PARK ARE REFERRING? THERE IS VERY LITTLE CRAP ON PARK.

P.S.: I had to mimic your signature style font with bold and underline. It's funny.

[jeffpark]

Mort's 280 park

[lofter1]

It would be great if they were to restore the extension on 42nd St.:

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Knickerbocker%20page/knickb.html

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SUBWAYS/Knickerbocker%20page/PCard3.jpg

[pianoman11686]

If it's gonna be a five-star hotel, they should have some kind of portico installed. At the very least, we'll get a glass overhang.

[antinimby]

It amazes me how they will fit 300 Five-Star, LUXURY (think spacious) rooms into this moderate-size building.

[kliq6]

this is a nice project. Also with the possible buying of the Bush Tower site, they can ad more rooms in there as well.

[londonlawyer]

this is a nice project. Also with the possible buying of the Bush Tower site, they can ad more rooms in there as well.

Good point. By the way, having a flea market with junk next to a 5 Star hotel makes no sense. Hopefully, the sheik will buy the flea market and add a tower that accompanies the hotel.

[kliq6]

yes i agree that flea market in that area is a joke. Since American Properties is lost, they might as well sell

[Citytect]

I agree that the flea market site could be put to better use and would have no problem seeing it go. But it's kind of an interesting juxtaposition. I think it's interesting in a quirky sort of way, at least. One of the great pleasures of life in a city: seemingly incompatible things in close proximity.

I'm glad this building isn't going to be another luxury condo conversion.

[LeCom]

TO WHICH BUILDING ON PARK ARE REFERRING? THERE IS VERY LITTLE CRAP ON PARK.

P.S.: I had to mimic your signature style font with bold and underline. It's funny.
Well, very few buildings are, but this one happens to be one of them.

[londonlawyer]

Hi, Lecom.

How are you?

I have been so busy.

280 Park is not nice, but I don't think that it's classic NY crap.

[pianoman11686]

It amazes me how they will fit 300 Five-Star, LUXURY (think spacious) rooms into this moderate-size building.

It's not that much of a stretch. The building is 288,000 square feet. Assuming they use half of that space for things such as a lobby, fitness center, restaurant, and hallways, that still leaves 144,000/300 = 480 square feet per room, on average. Even among 5-star hotels, that's a good-size room.

[antinimby]

Thanks piano. I guess that at 300 million, it would've been harder to recoup and make a profit going the route of condo conversions. So hotel is the smartest route for them to take.

[Fabrizio]

Do you guys really think "the royal family of Dubai" is worried about making a profit with this project? The "profit" in a case like this, is often image and prestige. It might also be the start of a small deluxe chain of hotels.

------

The same for the flagship boutiques on 5th and on Madison. Do you really think a company like... I don´t know... Missoni sells enough sweaters to make it´s rent? These companies need a presence... it´s advertising really. I doubt too that Apple cares if their 5th Avenue store makes money... the presence...the buzz.... the logo suspended above one of the world´s most prestigious cross-roads, adds to the company´s luster.... and that helps sell the products globally.

[londonlawyer]

It would be nice if there's a magnificent two story lobby in this building.

[Fabrizio]

I used to visit showrooms here in the 80´s. As I remember it, the interior was stripped of all ornamentation....or perhaps just covered up? I remember too, a modern and rather dreary entrance. The interior will probably be all new...let´s hope for a great architect. The guy doing the Stanhope conversion or someone like Robert Stern would be interesting for this...

[lofter1]

"The GAP" will have to go, eh?

Anyone know how long their lease is for the Knickerbocker space?

Hopefully the street-level facade will be restored to its former glory.

[LeCom]

It's definitely a great-looking building.

My shot from a couple of weeks ago.

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/7567/dsc01769knickerbockerlookingup.jpg

[lofter1]

gotta love the juxtaposition between the Knickerbocker / the Bush Tower ...

great old brickwork

[lofter1]

New activity at teh Knickerbocker ...

Application at DOB 7.11.06 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=5&allisn=0001393821&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=):

Job Description: Renovate building throughout, change use to hotel, relocate floor area. This application filed for zoning review only at this time so the project can be calendered at Landmarks

Comments for Document 01: This application filed for zoning review only at this time so the project can be calendered at Landmarks

Framework has been erected on the rooftop at the east side of the property, a requirement of Landmarks for applying for a rooftop addition ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/Midtown/KnickHotel_01f.jpg

[macreator]

Glad to see some action on this building. Hopefully since the new owners are from Dubai we'll see this thing get converted into a luxury hotel swiftly.

[BrooklynRider]

The conversion project underway. Architects are working on it now.

[kliq6]

The conversion project underway. Architects are working on it now.

Do you know if they will build the extension to the hotel as well now?

[ASchwarz]

Yes, plans were submitted a few weeks ago. Includes the original bldg. and a new structure on the vacant lot.

I would expect something super-luxury.

[lofter1]

From DOB today:

Last Action: PLAN EXAM - DISAPPROVED (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobDetailsServlet?requestid=5&allisn=0001393821&allboroughname=&allnumbhous=&allstrt=) 07/14/2007

[Scraperfannyc]

I'm surprised this did not get the wrecking ball yet. More cubicle space in this location makes sense.

[lofter1]

The Knickerbocker is Landmarked --

So no matter how much you might want it to be demolished it ain't gonna happen :cool:

[macreator]

I'm surprised this did not get the wrecking ball yet. More cubicle space in this location makes sense.

I hope you aren't seriously suggesting that this magnificent, century-old, and architecturally intact building be demolished for some uninspired Skidmore, Owings and Merril glass box. I'd much rather see the building retained and converted into a 5-star hotel as is currently planned. We've got plenty of junky buildings ranging from West Side industrial lowrises, to plump mid-rise 50's office buildings to demolish and redevelop in this City.

[lofter1]

If you stack skysrapers side by side by side by side you cannot differentiate anything.

Aside from the fact that the Knickerbocker is a beauty on its own the open space above it gives breathing room to the other towers in the vicinity.

[Scraperfannyc]

I hope you aren't seriously suggesting that this magnificent, century-old, and architecturally intact building be demolished for some uninspired Skidmore, Owings and Merril glass box. I'd much rather see the building retained and converted into a 5-star hotel as is currently planned. We've got plenty of junky buildings ranging from West Side industrial lowrises, to plump mid-rise 50's office buildings to demolish and redevelop in this City.

Of course not. But I would not be surprised if it did given the location and current status of development in NYC. If this is converted into a hotel, I think developers will have a much easier time demolishing it if it is not landmarked.

[stache]

If this is converted into a hotel, I think developers will have a much easier time demolishing it if it is not landmarked.

The building in question is already landmarked. Turning it into a hotel does not alter landmark status.

[kliq6]

I'm surprised this did not get the wrecking ball yet. More cubicle space in this location makes sense.

God, im in Commercial Real Estate and the more office space the better, but this building is a great one. Hotel Penn to me is not but losing this is nuts!!!!

[Scraperfannyc]

God, im in Commercial Real Estate and the more office space the better, but this building is a great one. Hotel Penn to me is not but losing this is nuts!!!!

I'm glad it's landmarked, so this one will obviously remain. I love the contrast between this building and the surrounding glass buildings in Times Square. A contrast of two great eras.

Still though, if this building was not landmarked, I don't think it would be able to withstand the waves of new office contruction in this area. This is one of the hottest spots for prime Class A office space right now.

In the end, it is the combination of height and architecture that will win as this is what steals public attention. The only way to be better is to build taller and with grander architecture. All else will dissapear behind the curtains.

[lofter1]

Just keep those ^^^ grubby hands off the terrific early 20 C buildings in the garment district :cool:

[LeCom]

^Agreed. If anything, I believe they should designate the main area of Garment District (between 34th and 40th and 7th to 9th) as a historic district (since nowhere else in the city can you find such a solid, unspoiled collection of early 20th century building stock) and permit only very limited construction in the area. Would make a nice break between the soon-to-explode development at and near MSG to the south, the up and coming West Side to the west and rapidly developing 8th Avenue and 42nd Street districts to the north. I really don't want new towers popping up amongst those classic old buildings in an arguably best preserved neighborhood from the era, both physically and in spirit. I understand that it will likely get gentrified as everything around it undergoes rapid development, yet even maintaining its physical aspects would be a great feat in this rapidly developing area.

[ablarc]

^ Agreed. Keep the building stock intact and convert much of it to residential to give it some evening life.

Oh, and clean the buildings.

[Fabrizio]

Landmark that and those beautiful blocks of 5th below the ESB (which are slowly being eaten away.)

[sfenn1117]

I agree on the Garment District, since the building stock is incredible and there's a lot of history there. The manufacturing zoning makes it prone for hotels, specifically mcsams, popping up near the Port Authority. Luckily most buildings are built out greater than today's FAR would allow so they aren't very vulnerable.

As for 5th Avenue near the ESB, it's already landmarked south of 29th st. Nothing wrong with a couple new condo towers nearby....we can't landmark the whole island.

[stache]

sfenn, how far down 5th. does the landmark status extend?

[sfenn1117]

The "Madison Square North" district starts at 29th (midblock on the west side of 5th) and goes to 25th. Ladies Mile goes from there all the way down to 15th.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/maps/maps_manh.shtml

[stache]

Broadway above Union Sq. is my favorite part of the city.

[Jim856796]

The Knickerbocker Hotel was born in 1906. It became an office building in 1921. The building is now known as 6 Times Square. There are now plans to restore the building into a 250-room hotel.

[antinimby]

From today's NY Post (http://www.nypost.com/seven/04302008/business/scores_goes_on_the_block_108833.htm):


Location and pricing have caused Dubai's Nakheel to enter into a contract to sell the Knickerbocker Hotel and the adjacent 42nd Street development site.

The off-market deal was arranged by Jeffrey Davis of Jones Lang LaSalle.

Nakheel Hotels' CEO Joe Sita told us that they had bought the office building at 6 Times Square with plans to convert it back to the Knickerbocker prior to their purchases of the W Hotel at Union Square and the Mandarin Oriental at the Time Warner Center.

"When we looked at the weighting of hotel product we really didn't need another hotel of that standard," Sita said.

Architects Brennan Beer Gorman, which also worked on the St. Regis, had created what Sita called "outstanding" conversion plans for the hotel and the site next door that the unidentified buyer, which is in its due diligence period, may decide to use.

Meanwhile, Nakheel (which now encompasses the former Istithmar division) is continuing many projects in Dubai as well as renovation work on its newest US purchases, the Fontainebleau in Miami and the conversion of the Hotel Washington to a W.

[Merry]

Dubai royal fam rethinks Knick

September 29, 2009, by Sara

Remember when the Dubai royal family thought there was room for another luxury hotel on 42nd Street, back in the dreamy days of 2006, and paid $300 million to buy the Knickerbocker Hotel? Surprise, surprise, the promised hotel restoration hasn't happened, and the Post's Steve Cuozzo reports today that Istithmar World, which owns the Broadway and 42nd Street building, is thinking about selling it. Douglas Durst, developer of nearby One Bryant Park, said Istithmar's mess on 42nd street "doesn't make me very happy." But with Dubai's own market falling apart, we're guessing the royal family has bigger things to worry about. [Post, previously (http://curbed.com/archives/2006/06/06/dubai_royal_fam_to_bring_back_the_knick.php)]

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/09/29/dubai_royal_fam_rethinks_knick.php

[Merry]

^ The story referred to.


No-sell hotel on 42nd street

By STEVE CUOZZO

September 29, 2009

1466 Broadway and an adjacent empty lot sit unfinished because of the developer's money woes.

THE office building at 1466 Broadway, the landmarked former Knickerbocker Hotel, stands half-dark at the "Crossroads of the World."

Next door on 42nd Street, a low plywood fence fronts an unsightly empty lot and an adjacent, vacant four-story structure.

That's the southeast corner of 42nd Street at Broadway -- an eyesore amid the sparkling likes of the Durst Organization's One Bryant Park and Blackstone's newly re-clad 1095 Sixth Ave. Both 1466 Broadway and the adjacent lot and empty building are owned by Dubai's Istithmar World.

In fact, most of the south side of 42nd Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway is unsightly, but some of that is temporary.

Blackstone is creating a new public plaza next to 1195 Sixth and American Properties, owner of Bush Tower at 130 W. 42nd St., will soon take down a sidewalk bridge after it completes facade work.

But the Istithmar mess isn't likely to go away soon, and the owners of nearby properties are baffled and annoyed.

Douglas Durst, who developed One Bryant Park and now has his office there, said "It doesn't make me very happy. I certainly wish we could do something to make it look better."

Dubai World, a government-owned conglomerate of which Istithmar is a part, is being "restructured."

Marwan Dalloul, principal of American Properties, which owns Bush Tower, said of the blighted site next door: "I haven't followed it as much as I'd like -- there's no one [at Istithmar] to talk to."

How the prime site became what it is today is the story of a bubble that burst with last year's Wall Street meltdown.

SL Green bought 1466 Broadway -- a 16-story structure with 298,000 square feet, opened by John Jacob Astor as the Knickerbocker in 906 -- for $65 million in 1998, and spent $14 million more on restoration.

In 2005, Green sold it for $156 million to Sitt Asset Management, which flipped it to Istithmar for $300 million a year later.

Soon after, in 2006, Dalloul sold the empty lot and a vacant small building (140 W. 42nd) between 130 W. 42nd and 1466 Broadway to Istithmar for $76 million. Mortgages on the Istithmar properties total about $227 million, according to public records.

Istithmar, riding high three years ago, said it would put up a new building on the empty lot and combine it with 1466 Broadway to create a five-star hotel. But it dropped that idea after it bought stakes in two other Manhattan hotels, the W Union Square and the Mandarin Oriental.

My colleague Lois Weiss reported last year that Jones Lang LaSalle had brokered a prospective sale of Istithmar's parcel to an unidentified entity. No deal was ever completed, however.

Meanwhile, old office leases at 1466 Broadway weren't being renewed. (The building remains bustling at street level, thanks to a big Gap store.) Co-star now lists 235,000 square feet of the building as "available."

Dalloul said Istithmar's aborted hotel plan "once made sense if you had all the money in the world. At one point, everything made sense on paper -- sure, you can get $1,000 a room per night. Then the world changed."

Istithmar plunked $27 billion, most of it borrowed, into various world wide investments over the past few years, including Barn eys. It sold off 280 Park Ave. in late 2007 for $128 million, slightly more than it had bought it for -- but that was before the investment-sale collapse.

There's recent buzz that Istithmar might soon try to sell the 42nd Street parcel. Real Capital Analytics Research Chief Dan Fasulo said, "I believe the highest and best use of that site is as a hotel -- but a price any investor would pay today is much lower than what Istithmar paid."

Calls to Istithmar's New York office and to Sitt Asset were not returned.

In an unusual Brooklyn-to-Manhattan move, online health company Waterfront Media is leaving Dumbo for Trinity Real Estate's 345 Hudson St.

The firm had 28,000 feet at 45 Main St. in Dumbo and will now have 36,400 feet on Hudson Street.

Cushman & Wakefield's Mitti Liebersohn and Scott Silverstein repped Waterfront.

Liebersohn called the new location "ideal for a modern, media-centric company," noting, "345 Hudson St.'s floor plan is highly conducive to Waterfront Media's creative environment."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/realestate/commercial/no_sell_hotel_on_nd_street_4Ms1XQg6pZUAE3Xc3MEtzI

[lofter1]

Fortunately this property at 1466 Broadway (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?boro=1&houseno=1466&street=Broadway&requestid=0&s=A03C41B885B461E4F46BD08866A7430E) is Landmarked ...

Knickerbocker Hotel site set to sell for $173M

The Real Deal (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/former-knickerbocker-hotel-site-set-to-sell-for-173m-with-raphael-de-niro-and-adam-paskow-of-prudential-douglas-elliman-brokering-the-deal)
June 11, 2010 08:45PM
By Amy Tennery

Knickerbocker Hotel and an adjacent lot on 42nd Street are set to close Tuesday for $173 million, according to sources close to the deal.

The price of the entire property is just 46 percent of the $376 million price Istithmar World (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/former-owner-of-w-in-union-square-isithmar-and-dekabank-files-suit-to-challenge-new-owner-bankruptcy-filings) paid for it in 2006.

"Ashkenazy definitely got a great deal," one said.

Istithmar, which is the private equity owner of Dubai government's investment arm, lost control of the Midtown property in March to lender Danske Bank after defaulting on its $300 million mortgage. Istithmar, the former owner of the W New York Union Square hotel, filed suit earlier this year to challenge a series of bankruptcy filings from Philadelphia-based LEM Mezzanine.

"It's kind of a relief that things are being priced appropriately," said Adam Paskow of Prudential Douglas Elliman, part of the team representing one of the buyers, Ashkenazy Acquisition, adding that the deal signifies "more of a correction than a depression."

There are reports that there were over 50 bidders for the site including hotel chains and institutional investors.

The buyers of the 300,000-square-foot 10-story Beaux-Arts-style building at 1466 Broadway, or 6 Times Square, and the neighboring property are Ashkenazy, Crown Acquisitions and Highgate Holdings.

Paskow and colleague Raphael De Niro along with Christopher Okada, president of corporate real estate advisory group Okada & Company, negotiated the deal for Ashkenazy. Paskow runs the investment sales division group of Elliman's De Niro Group.

Paskow and another source said that they were unaware of how the building would be used after it trades hands.

The historic building opened as the Knickerbocker Hotel (http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/knickerbocker-hotel-building-selling) during the turn of the century, and has been home to Newsweek, textile showrooms, apartments and the Gap.

It wasn't immediately clear who represented Crown and Highgate and no one else involved in the deal was immediately available for comment.

© 2010 The Real Deal

[londonlawyer]

I can't wait for that crappy flea market site to be redeveloped.