Forbes (5/16/2023): 

“Among properties providing all comforts of home at move-in is New York City’s ONE11 Residences at Thompson Central Park.

Bearing an address at 111 West 56th Street, ONE 11 Residences at Thompson Central Park offers 99 one-and two-bedroom condominium residences. Accounting for different buyers’ tastes, the optional Thomas Juul-Hansen-designed turnkey package provides buyers a choice of two color palettes.

“ONE11 residents can step into a fully furnished home precisely designed for the scale and dimensions of the residence,” says Stan Spiegelman, managing director of GFI Development, the property’s developer.”

“Not only does Juul-Hansen’s first-ever turnkey offer impeccable style, but his layers of design bring it all together, making your place feel like home from day one. Everything can be here, in place, waiting for you.” 

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Bloomberg (9/15/2022): 

“A Midtown hotel that was recently overhauled is now offering the possibility of living on Billionaires’ Row without paying billionaire prices.

Sales begin Thursday for the 99 condos at ONE11 Residences at Thompson Central Park in Manhattan, where units range from about $1.3 million for a one-bedroom to more than $14 million for each of a pair of four-bedroom penthouses. The apartments are carved out of the hotel known for decades as Le Parker Méridien and now operating as the Thompson.

The project, developed by the team behind the Ace, Beekman and NoMad hotels, aims to bring a similar downtown feeling to Midtown. Residents will have access to the amenities, lobby and restaurants of the Thompson, a trendy four-star hotel on 56th Street just west of Sixth Avenue.

“It’s all in the middle of the city — near Central Park, near Billionaires’ Row, near Fifth Avenue,” said Stan Spiegelman, managing director of GFI Development Co., the developer of the project along with its sister hospitality company. “It has this downtown vibe similar to the Beekman,” which he said is hard to find in the neighborhood…”

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Conde Nast Traveller (5/3/2022): 

“The lobby in any Ace hotel is the place to be, and its Brooklyn outpost is no different. There are public workspaces galore—including a library-style table, a plant-filled garden, and a moody bar area with cozy seating—and plenty of guests, locals, and staff making use of them all. Many of the hallmarks of Ace decor are present in the 287 rooms: plywood furniture that offers both form and function, local art, and pops of colour (in this case, a deep green). But the room design also leans into the industrial building’s architecture, with exposed concrete and warehouse windows.”

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Commercial Observer (2/1/2022): 

“Affiliates of GFI Capital Resources Group just closed a $195 million refinance for The Beekman hotel in Lower Manhattan, Commercial Observer can first report.”

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New York Business Journal (11/1/2021): 

“Hyatt Hotels Corp. said it’s opening a hotel Monday on the southern edge of Central Park on West 56th Street.

The Chicago hotel giant (NYSE: H) said the Thompson Central Park New York is opening at the site of the former Parker New York Hotel, 119 West 56th Street, which was sold last year to GFI Capital Resources Group and Elliott Management Corp. for a reported $420 million. The 729-room hotel was sold by the family of the late hotel developer Jack Parker, and $100 million was spent on the building’s redevelopment, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Hyatt said it redesigned the lobby and public spaces and created 587 hotel rooms, as well as an additional 174 Upper Stories luxury rooms. Monday’s opening also will see the reopening of the Burger Joint restaurant and the introduction of new cocktail bar, Standing Room Only.

“Together with our partners across design, culinary, retail and more, we’re thrilled to provide New Yorkers and travelers with an unparalleled hospitality experience steps from Central Park and iconic cultural institutions, performing arts theaters, Broadway and more of what makes New York City a world-class destination,” said Matt Slippoy, general manager, Thompson Central Park New York, in a statement.

The hotel’s public spaces were designed by architect Thomas Juul-Hansen, and guestrooms were designed by Stonehill Taylor. Hyatt said rooms at Thompson Central Park New York will start at an introductory rate of $420 per night. Hyatt added that the Thompson Central Park New York is one of five Thompson Hotels properties expected to open across the U.S. this year.

New York’s hotel statistics still remain abysmal. In the latest statistics provided by hotel research firm STR, New York City’s hotel occupancy level is at 66.7%, down from 92.1% two years ago. The average daily rate is $242.01, down from $306.92 two years ago. And revenue per available room is down to $161.31, down from $282.73 from two years ago. STR said, “Due to the steep, pandemic-driven performance declines of 2020, STR is measuring recovery against comparable time periods from 2019.”

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Vogue (10/24/2021): 

“The Roman and Williams-designed Ace Hotel opened in Brooklyn only a few months ago, but already it’s attracting the attention of aesthetes everywhere thanks to its facade by modernist artist Stan Bitters, a sculptural light installation that acts as an homage to Tokyo’s now demolished Hotel Okura, and a bar by Verdan Jakšić. This September, it aims to cement itself as a culinary attraction with its Demo Kitchen, an interactive space that’ll host everything from chef-curated dinners to mixology workshops and cooking classes.”

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The Wall Street Journal (1/24/2019): 

The developer behind trendsetting hotels in Manhattan’s NoMad neighborhood has acquired the Parker New York hotel, looking to bring some of its downtown success to a midtown strip known more for opulent residences than hip lodging.

Real-estate firm GFI Capital Resources Group and Elliott Management Corp., a hedge fund and activist investor, closed Wednesday on the purchase of the 729-room hotel for about $420 million, GFI Capital said. The joint venture purchased the hotel from the family of the late Jack Parker, a hotel and property developer.

The venture plans to spend an additional $100 million to make over the 37-year-old hotel and convert many of the rooms into private residences.

The hotel has entrances on West 56th and West 57th streets, so-called Billionaires’ Row because of the ultrahigh end condominiums built along the street and around the southern end of Central Park.

The partners expect to revamp the underground retail space, but their plans are still evolving, said Allen Gross, chief executive of GFI Capital. The popular Burger Joint, located in the hotel, will remain, he said.

The hotel has entrances on W. 56th Street and W. 57th Street, so-called Billionaires’ Row. The hotel will stay open during the renovation, which is expected to begin in 2020. It will be relaunched as a flagship of Hyatt Hotels Corp.’s Thompson Hotel brand in 2021.

The new owners have tapped New York-based architect Thomas Juul-Hansen to create about 67 residential apartments at the top of the building. The condos will have floor-to-ceiling windows and offer hotel services and amenities, GFI Capital said.

The project won’t be competing with its surrounding ultraluxury neighbors, Mr. Gross said. Most of the condos will be one-bedroom units with pricing possibly in the $2 million range, not $20 million or $30 million.

“The location is something to die for,” Mr. Gross said. “It’s Billionaires’ Row, and this piece of real estate is right smack in the middle of it.”

The joint venture secured $350 million in debt from Bank OZK to finance the acquisition and renovation, said Dustin Stolly, vice chairman at Newmark Knight Frank and part of the team that advised the joint venture on financing.

The Parker Hotel was part of the Le Méridien brand, originally a Paris-based hotel line that has struggled at times in the U.S. It was part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., which was acquired by Marriott International Inc. in 2016. The Parker stopped operating under that flag about a year ago.

Bjorn Hanson, a hotel-industry consultant, described the Parker as a “quiet hotel” of less prominence and name recognition than other hotels of similar size and in similarly well-located addresses.

Hyatt can bring “a reservation system, loyalty program, group sales and international sales to a hotel that has not had those types of supports,” Mr. Hanson said.

GFI Capital’s affiliate developed the Ace Hotel New York and the NoMad Hotel more than a decade ago. Their open lobbies, public spaces and free Wi-Fi helped accelerate the trend of hotels evolving into popular spots for freelancers and other locals to work, much like co-working spaces.

The hotels also helped spur condo, trendy restaurants and other development in the previously shaggy NoMad neighborhood, which primarily had been populated with wholesale stores.

GFI Capital later applied a similar approach when it joined forces with Elliott Management to revamp a long-vacant 19th-century, lower Manhattan building into what is now the posh Beekman hotel.

While Elliott Management has a reputation for buying shares in companies such as eBay Inc. and pushing for change, the $34 billion hedge fund also has invested in the real-estate sector. Since 2009, the firm has made about $9 billion in direct commercial real-estate investments in the U.S., Europe and Asia in addition to investments in real-estate securities.

The team’s new project comes at a time when average daily hotel rates in Manhattan have begun to rise after several years of declines, as construction continues to increase the supply. Last year, the average daily rate rose to $281.09, up 2.6% from the previous year’s $274.08, according to analytics firm STR.”

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