A second gay hotel is being considered
for New York City.
On Top Magazine was first to
report
on plans by the Spanish hotelier Axel Hotels to bring its five-star
gay hotel chain to Hell's Kitchen. It would be the first U.S.
hotel for that group.
But plans from a second investment
group appear to be further along. According to Gay
City News, the Out NYC hotel and bar will also be located in
Hell's Kitchen. And owners have already pitched the plan to a key
community committee which is expected to vote on the project within
the next two weeks.
The project calls for a $20 million
renovation of a former three-story Travel Lodge hotel located at 508
West 42nd Street into a five-story complex that will
include a 123 room, moderately priced hotel, a 10,000-square-foot
dance club, a gym and possibly several restaurants.
Gay City News called the project
“the most ambitious commercial development ever to court New York's
gay community.”
The project is being financed by
Parkview Developers, which was founded in 2003 by gay couple Ian
Reisner and Mati Weiderpass. The pair are also negotiating with Axel
Hotels to manage that property.
An Axel roadmap includes plans for
three additional U.S. hotels to be built in its most gay-friendly
cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.
But New York City commands the lion's
share of the red hot gay and lesbian tourism market.
“Gays and lesbians travel much more
often than their straight counterparts, and New York City is the No.
1 destination for gay people in North America,” Tom Roth of
Community Marketing told the New York Daily News.
A 2006 study by the U.S. Travel
Association found that gay men spend an average of $260 more per trip
than their straight counterparts.
CORRECTION: Ian Reisner tells us there
is only one hotel being considered for Hell's Kitchen. That is, his
Out NYC complex will house the Axel hotel.