Ian Schrager

Whoo-hoo, we’re a week into the Tribeca Film Festival and we can hardly remember a time when it wasn’t Tribeca Film Festival time. We’ve now learned how to avoid the blinking-light madness of the red carpet, how to navigate the (sorta crazy) long lines outside the theaters, and that our laminated pass gets entree into clean East Village restrooms. Oh, and the movies!  read more »

So much for "Schrager Hotels."

Contrary to a recent report by the New York Post, godfather of hip hotels Ian Schrager is not pulling a Donald Trump by naming his new chain of trendy inns after himself.

The brand will instead be called "Edition," according to an announcement Tuesday by Mr. Schrager and partner Bill Marriott.  read more »

"We didn't make the product -- the product made us," Ian Schrager told The Observer about becoming a famous hotelier.

What does the godfather of boutique hotels think of the latest wave of aspiring celebrity hoteliers, Robert De Niro, Giorgio Armani and Jay-Z?

"I think when people hear Jay-Z's name, they have a certain level of expectation of the kind of music they're going to hear. I don't think they have a lot of expectation about what kind of hotel they're going to get," he said.  read more »

Ettore Sottsass, the celebrated Italian designer, died at his home in Milan today. He was 90 years old.

Mr. Sottsass is primarily credited with founding the Memphis Group—an influential collective of Italian-based designers, who were primarily concerned with furniture and product—in 1980. Before disbanding in 1988, the work of Memphis scholars was largely characterized as the “New International Style.” According to a Guardian article from 2001, the group was also the primary influence behind the subsequent work of Philippe Starck and Ian Schrager.

A retrospective of Mr. Sottsass’ work opened last September in Trieste, Italy. Entitled “I Want to Know Why,” the exhibition features some 130 of the late designer’s work. Of the show, he is quoted as saying: “I would like the visitors to leave crying, that is with emotion.”

Eccentric designer Philippe Starck apparently doesn't think much of the Royalton Hotel's new look.

“I think if you are lucky enough to own an icon, you shouldn’t kill the icon," Mr. Starck said of the hotel lobby's recent redesign, during an interview with the New York Times.

Mr. Starck, of course, created the Royalton lobby's prior look for hotelier Ian Schrager in 1988, featuring "chair legs shaped like ram’s horns" and "a Champagne bar that conjured up the inside of a genie’s bottle," as the Times put it.

In its heyday, the Starck-designed lobby and restaurant 44 offered a fashionable hangout for media people and celebrities, and some credit the Starck-Schrager partnership at the Royalton with pioneering the whole boutique-hotel craze.

Restaurateur John McDonald, who spearheaded the recent lobby redesign alongside architects Roman & Williams, previously explained his rationale for the total lobby overhaul in an interview with The Observer.  read more »

Gawker mentioned yesterday that sales at Ian Schrager's new condo at 40 Bond Street have looked rather slow. Curbed today notes that flippers of one unit have slashed its sales price. And the Wall Street Journal, also today, notes that Ricky Martin has bought in the building.

So, what's going on, exactly? Are sales slow? Or are they fine?

Judging by the facts, they're fine.

We talked this afternooon with Kirk Rundhaug, the Sunshine Group broker helping run sales at 40 Bond. He said 24 of the building's 28 units have been sold; four remain.

Not bad, considering the slowing Manhattan sales market.

A year and a half after sales started, almost half the residences at 40 Bond Street have been sold.

Eleven units have closed at Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen’s highly anticipated condominium project, according to city records. The seller on these deals has been listed as 40 Bond Street Partners, LLC, and the closing prices range from $2.8 million to $10.5 million.  read more »

New Yorkers have long had a soft spot for The Waldorf-Astoria. Glamorous and storied, the hotel has loomed as a pinnacle of luxury in a town teeming with such.

But is it possible that the hotel where Al Pacino “Hoo Ha’ed!” in Scent of a Woman and where King Jaffe Joffer (played by James Earl Jones) stayed in Coming to America is now one of the better discounts for upscale lodging?  read more »

Last week, the hotelier finally opened a restaurant in his fortress-like Gramercy Park Hotel. Here's what you'll find if you manage to get a reservation.  read more »

The Clocktower at 1 Madison Avenue officially belongs to Lev Leviev.

The building went to contract for $200 million in May to Leviev's Africa Israel, which purchased it from SL Green, Aby Rosen's RFR Holding and Ian Schrager.  read more »

Bond Street may soon be renamed “Condo Row.”

Self-storage king Adam Gordon recently told The Observer he plans to break ground on a nine-story condominium at 41-43 Bond Street later this year. Mr. Gordon’s Madison Development closed on the buildings located at that address earlier this week for $7.7 million, according to city records.  read more »

We’ve come quite far from the glittery sleaze of Studio 54. This morning at 10, one-time party-boy Ian Schrager held court at his artily chandeliered Gramercy Park Hotel to announce his un-arty new deal with Marriott (“one of the industry's most conservative companies”) to develop a boutique Schrager chain. Classy!  read more »

So you want to have an affair, but the goddamn paparazzi won’t leave you and your lover alone. What to do?

Step into the Gramercy Park Hotel, head for the private elevator, and jet up 16 floors to Ian Schrager’s new playground, the Private Roof Club and Garden. First, though, book a room or know (or be) somebody: The warren of sunrooms and bars is restricted to overnight guests and high-priced private parties.

If you get in, mellow out in the soft candle light amid plush furniture and a jungle of foliage that claims citrus trees, orchids and ivy among. Gaze upon original pieces by Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst; and, in one room roasted by a working fireplace, gander at a display of 1,000 light bulbs overhead.

There’s a wide view of chunks of midtown and the East Side (the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building stand out). And there’s… well, why bother going on? You probably can’t get in. (Good luck, though.)  read more »

It’s official: The Clock Tower at Five Madison Avenue has sold for $200 million. A Tuesday release from part-owner SL Green says that Lev Leviev’s Africa Israel is, indeed, the buyer. The 41-story Clock Tower was also owned by Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding and by hotelier Ian Schrager.

Mr. Schrager told The Observer first in March about the tower’s likely sale.  read more »

The New York Post is reporting that Africa Israel, the company that is in contract to buy the old New York Times building on West 43rd Street for $525 million, has "tendered the accepted bid" to buy One Madison Avenue, the legendary old Met Life building with its iconic clock tower looming over Madison Square Park.

If it is contract, it would be the second trophy won in three weeks by the developer Lev Leviev, who heads up Africa Israel.

It was less than three weeks ago that principals at SL Green confirmed to its investors that One Madsion was even for sale. The building was going on the market and would have a formal bidding process, one that generally takes months.

But just like he did with the Times building, Mr. Leviev has evidently named his number and come down with it in one fell swoop before the process even went to first round bids.

Ian Schrager, who is one of SL Green's investment partners in the building, told The Observer first last month that the building might be up for sale.

Only four of the Bowery Hotel’s 17 floors have opened for business, but the fireplace in its w  read more »

Last year an American won for the first time in nearly fifteen years, but this year's Pritzker Architecture Prize was awarded to a Brazilian, Paulo Mendes da Rocha. All the excessive details here, and some images of his work.

How long before he ends up in a meeting with Ian Schrager or Richard Born or Michael Shvo?  read more »

- Riva Froymovich

• Ian Schrager finds François Pinault, one of the richest men in the world, too difficult and turned him down for an apartment at 50 Gramercy Park North. Also, he's cheap: "'Rich people are rich,' Mr. Schrager said, 'because they have this intrinsic respect for money.'" (The New York Times)
• An Upper East Sider, who felt his apartment was simply too big, learns to love Harlem. How ... Mary Tyler Moore? <em>(The New York Times)
• Sprawl has spread beyond the exurbs, to the once faraway airports that find more stationary tenants. (The New York Times)
• West Coast architect Ray Kappe is designing a prefab community of homes near Joshua Tree National Park. But, the houses can be settled anywhere you like. Might one stand beside a Brooklyn brownstone? (Land+Living)
• Lady Liberty is turning a new shade of green. Her torch will now be lit by eco-friendlier windmill power. (New York Post)
• Tomorrow, the CUNY Graduate Center at 365 5th Avenue is hosting a course on designing and building an environmentally friendly home. (American Institute of Architects)
• Hearst, makers of Seventeen, Esquire and Cosmopolitan, will occupy "New York's most environmentally friendly skyscraper." (Hearst)
• Work at the cruise ship passenger terminal in Red Hook, which will receive the Queen Mary 2 in April. (New Yorkology)
• On St. Patrick's Day, McSorley's doors open at 8am. (The Village Voice)
• Italian architect Renzo Piano, known for Centre Georges Pompidou, will redesign the Harvard University Art Museums (HUAM), which will move to the new campus across the Charles River in Allston. (The Harvard Crimson)
• "Motorised blinds that fan out like a peacock’s tail" keep the newest glasshouse at Kew Botanic Gardens cool. (The Times)
• Ettore Sottsass, Italian architect and designer, will unveil his first major United States museum show. "If you have ever mixed multiple patterns in a single room, painted one wall a daring color, purchased a teapot with a little bird that whistles when the water's hot," it is because of him. (Los Angeles Times)
• City Tunnel No. 3 began construction in the Bronx in 1970 and is scheduled for completion in 2020, when about one billion gallons of water a day will run through it. BLDG BLOG goes into detail--with pictures!
• Forbes gathers the best and worst zip codes in which to buy a home.
• Anthrax and mecury found in Greenwich Village apartment buildings. (The Villager)
• Fighting for every square foot on West 12th Street. (The Villager)
• J. K. Rowling will pay $500,000 for a cozy summer in the Hamptons. (New York)
• The Stamford Review, an urban planning/architecture journal, published its spring issue:

  "At current rates of growth, the city’s population will reach capacity within seven to ten years. Some selective upzoning might allow the city’s resident population to approach nine million, but this is the approximate limit without radical redevelopment at much higher densities. If New Yorkers wish to preserve their existing residential neighborhoods, then immigration and economic growth must be accommodated by improved regional transportation and housing development."(Gothamist)

- Riva Froymovich

• The BBC has gone mad scientist. They're "hoping to harness the power of thousands of PCs around the world"--including yours--to predict the climate. (BBC)
• The best Jamaican goat roti in town. (The New York Times)
• Now that housing prices in Manhattan are unaffordable, let's build a hotel in Tribeca to bring in more rich people. (New York Post)
• Fed chairman Bernanke thinks that mortgage rates will stay low enough to keep the housing market stable, according to Jonathan Miller. (Matrix)
• Fed chairman Bernanke says that more rate increases are ahead, which will mean higher mortgage rates, according to Jonathan Miller. (Matrix)
• The Morgans Hotel Group, founded by Ian Schrager, had its IPO this week. Although he sold most of the company last decade, Schrager left the week $9 million richer and with a $46 million stake in Morgans. (Curbed)
• If graffiti artists use LED lights instead of spray paint, will their work still need to be "cleaned up" per the city's new law? (Gothamist)
• The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum announced the participating designers and firms in their "National Design Triennial: Design Life Now." (CHNDM)
• The director of the Design Museum, Alice Rawsthorn, "abruptly resigned" because of tensions over her taste for "decorative tendency" versus utility. The fight isn't over. (Telegraph)
• An interactive structure in the Netherlands changes color based on the feelings of people who vote online or through questionaire for "happy," "hate," or "love." What color would the tower be in New York? (arcspace)
• The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Center for Communities by Design has selected eight communities to receive technical assistance under the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program in 2006, including Syracuse, N.Y. (AIA)
• Royal Philips Electronics has built a full-scale city environment so that designers, architects and city officials can see how different light can improve the quality of urban life. (Gizmag)
• Courtney Love of Hole has finally found a buyer for her Crosby Street apartment. (Page Six)

- Riva Froymovich

Outside Looking In. Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen Offer A Sneak Preview of 40 Bond

The velvet rope was lowered yesterday for some architecture writers to nosh on Nobu cod at the sales office for the much hyped 40 Bond.

Today, developers Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen, the stylish duo profiled last month by The Observer, were on hand to entertain real estate and luxury living reporters. And there was more food from Nobu for the starving scribes.

Mr. Schrager, accustomed to catering to the beautiful people, briefly ran through his resume since co-founding Studio 54. There were a few jabs at the hotel industry for stealing his ideas, whereby a Schrager project was treated like a "candy store" to grab from freely.

But that's all in the past now, right? Now, Mr. Schrager admits to "having a ball" since hooking up with Mr. Rosen on smaller scale projects, yet with big name architects like Herzog and de Meuron.  read more »

Tomorrow, the rest of a the rabble (and by rabble we mean wealthy condo buyers) can peruse models encased in glass. Or they can simply look at samples of glass--the "luminescent curved glass" that was flown in from Barcelona. It's certainly worth a peak, even if all the sushi is gone.

-Michael Calderone

This week, real-estate mogul Aby Rosen spoke to The Observer about his partnership with Ian Schrager, and their luxury residential projects.

But today, the savvy developer found himself in trouble with former landlord, Sharon Goldman. Housing Court Judge Gerald J. Lebovits ruled against Mr. Rosen, forcing him to pay Ms. Goldman just over $208,000 to cover legal fees, disbursements, and interest. The dispute stemmed from a mid-2004 lease agreement for three floors at 12 East 68th Street.

“The bad news for Aby is that he has learned an expensive and painful lesson in landlord-tenant law,” said Warren Estis, a founding partner of Rosenberg & Estis, in a release.

But if Mr. Rosen can get $3,000 a foot on Bond Street, he should have the money back in no time.  read more »

-Michael Calderone

- That syrup smell? Blame New Jersey. New York Times - Real estate slowdown? The number of mortgage applications filed last week fell to the lowest level since May 2002. The Real Deal - Jonathan Miller gets meta: Big Media’s use of “bubble speak” is declining. Matrix - Meanwhile Janis Mara at Inman News makes fun of everyone. - Prices went up in Manhattan. But volume went down. WSJ Online - Ian Schrager and Aby Rosen bought One Madison Avenue; it's fated for condos. The Real Deal - More on Castle Village residents getting slapped with major bills stemming from the West Side Highway collapse in the Spring. Curbed - Claim: Economic resurgence for lower Manhattan. New York Sun - New details of the World Trade Center Memorial design. Daily News - The Federal government will soon be New Orleans' largest land-owner. New York Times - Selling reporters on the condos at the Plaza. New York Times - Second Avenue Deli closes--maybe for good. New York Times - Rejected from one downtown tourist trap, the Drawing Center considers another: South Street Seaport. New York Times - If you can't clean it properly, sell ads on it! David Dunlap on those ad-wraps on subway-station columns. New York Times - Art Deco beauty at 29 W. 57th Street (in the shadow of Sheldon Solow's 9 West) could fetch $50 million. New York Post  read more »

Former Apprentice contestant David Gould is on a one-man crusade to stop construction at Ian Schrager's much-touted 50 Gramercy Park North at Gramercy Park Hotel.

Plans are currently underway to build 23 luxurious condos, with a wealth of amenities.

In 2001, Mr. Gould—a trained physician who now works in health care private equity—moved next door into 4 Lexington Avenue, originally the Russell Sage Foundation. He gut-renovated two units, which were later combined. In addition, Mr. Gould had one of only a few terraces in the building, and greatly enjoyed his view.

"I look directly at the hyphen of the Gramercy Park Hotel, above which is a whole lot of air and sunlight," said Mr. Gould. "And you can even see the top of the buildings across the park." But then came the jackhammers, and the unpleasant news that his precious view might vanish. "It wasn't until recently that we realized that middle section was going to be built way, way up." So, Mr. Gould began researching, and found a 1929 agreement buried in the footnote of a Landmarks report.

"In 1929, when the annex to our building was being built, around the same time an addition to the Gramercy Park Hotel was being built," said Mr. Gould, "there was an agreement made between the two buildings, basically protecting that air space between the middle connecting section."

However, that agreement, which appears to have been only valid until 1953, was no smoking gun. Regardless, Mr. Gould began delivering documents to his co-op board, who had no idea that any agreement once existed between the two buildings.

Representatives from 50 Gramercy Park North have not yet responded to these claims. So, does the same guy who wanted to follow in Mr. Trump's footsteps, have second thoughts about development?

"I'm not anti-progress or anything like that, it's just that the building of this middle section will take away from existing air space, sunlight, and air flow, and certainly violates the spirit of the old agreement, if not the letter or the old agreement," said Mr. Gould.

Meanwhile, the luxurious residence continues skyward.  read more »

-Michael Calderone

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An architectural holy war has erupted over a plot of land where the East meets the West Village.The  read more »

For a while now, it has been rumored that Jean-Louis Palladin was about to open a restaurant in New  read more »

Manhattan's top real estate brokers gathered at the Harmonie Club on April 29 to dine on red snapper  read more »