May 13, 2008
aloft in Harlem Confirmed, Brooklyn Revealed, Plus NJ’s First Element
Posted by Andrew Calvo under design, hotel development, hotels, starwood hotels, w hotelsWell I have a number of news bits today on aloft developments in New York City, as well as a small tidbit of information on an Element - Ewing to be located in Ewing, NJ - it would be New Jersey’s first Element location.
First is the news that the long rumored aloft/W Hotel in Harlem is definitely going to be an aloft! For almost a year now there have been rumors that it will be a W Hotel, even though some of the original renderings had the aloft logo as part of the rendering (lower right corner), but because most alofts have a signature “swish” and do not have a residential component (as this development is supposed to have) there was a big question mark. According to Starwoods New Hotel page, it is scheduled to open in June 2010.
aloft Harlem Rendering
Second news is the aloft/Sheraton combination development being built in Brooklyn. Once again it was another development which has not been completely validated, but I’ve been able to put the pieces together and it is definitely going to be a Sheraton with an adjoining aloft next door. To some people this development may not come as a surprise - as renderings have been available, yet at the same time it was never always clear as to what building is what and where exactly the rendering will be built.
The development is being designed by Gene Kaufman, the architect who seems to be designing most of NYC’s major non-luxury hotel developments. In fact the McSam Hotel Group uses him almost exclusively for their designs (and they are building or planning around 40 hotels in NYC as we speak). All of Gene Kaufman’s exterior designs are very big on bold colors as well as not fitting into the normal look and feel that you would expect from a hotel development. Some of his designs look like a building build with legos.
The Sheraton/aloft combination development is being built by the The Lam Group, and not McSam (easy to confuse because a lot of people confuse Gene Kaufman as an exclusive architect of McSam). On Starwood’s new hotel page, it lists the Sheraton as opening August 2009 and the aloft opening June 2009.
Sheraton/Aloft development. Sheraton is on the left, aloft is on the right
aloft rendering from Starwood’s New Hotel page. Notice the roof now has a big “a” instead of what looks like could have been a “W”
Ground level rendering of aloft from aloft’s website
Construction of Sheraton as of Feb 2008. Notice that construction on the Aloft building doesn’t seem to have started yet. (Photo from Brownstoner)
Lastly is news that New Jersey’s first Element hotel will be built in Ewing Township, NJ by Hersha Hospitality. The address that is given is 370 Scotch Road, Ewing, NJ which is right next to the Courtyard by Marriott that Hersha also operates. It’s a great location for an element as it is right next to the Mercer County Airport - which is becoming very popular for private and business jets, as well as near a major Merrill Lynch complex and a brand new commercial development called Princeton South. Princeton South by the way will also be receiving a 140 room hotel development in the next few years, but it is unclear what brand that hotel will end up being.
The Element- Ewing is listed on Starwood’s site as opening in November, 2009, but its not categorized by a State - you have to look at the top of the list in order to find it.
It seems the a lot of the confusion with Aloft/W Hotels over the past year or two has its roots in aloft’s being an offshoot of the W Hotel brand. A lot of developers, and architects referred to the project as a W hotel, when in fact all along it was only an aloft.
