NEW YORK | Baccarat (20 W 53rd St) | 606 FT |48 FLOORS - Page 3

Roadcruiser1 · #41 Posted **Mar 28, 2012, 1:35 AM**

It also says that even though the design has been changed it has jumped up 67.5 feet in height making it 677.50 feet in height. That means this needs to be corrected.

babybackribs2314 · #42 Posted **Mar 28, 2012, 3:57 PM**

Height is still 610', the 677' figure is inclusive of either underground levels or the ground elevation.

NYguy · #43 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 1:47 AM**

Here's the image from the documents...

RobertWalpole · #44 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 2:09 AM**

I hope that this tower does not turn out to be pathetic.

scalziand · #45 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 3:43 AM**

The overhead view on the permit hints at a bit of extra detailing on the corners, so I wouldn't write this off yet.

NYC2ATX · #46 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 8:51 AM**

Well it is a bit underwhelming, but a massing model is really just a massing model. I'll hold my opinion until actual renderings are released.

sbarn · #47 Posted **Mar 29, 2012, 2:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by StatenIslander237

Well it is a bit underwhelming, but a massing model is really just a massing model. I'll hold my opinion until actual renderings are released.

My thoughts exactly...

RobertWalpole · #48 Posted **Apr 17, 2012, 11:00 AM**

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...P6WMj6gMOVrF3L

Sternlicht dealing Baccarat

Last Updated: 12:06 AM, April 17, 2012

Steve Cuozzo

REALTY CHECK

Quote:

Super-luxury hotel Baccarat, long a dream of Starwood Capital founder Barry Sternlicht, is coming to New York. The 45-story hotel/condo tower being developed by Sternlicht and Tribeca Associates will be flagged with the 5-star name, according to a persuasive source — a city Department of Environmental Protection permit at the site that calls the project “Baccarat.” In the past few weeks, the Buildings Department also gave final approval to the tower at 20 W. 53rd St., across from MoMA, with some 120 hotel rooms on floors 4 to 12 and luxury condos above them.

Excavation is going full-bore at the former (and future) Donnell Library site, currently a gaping hole in one of Midtown’s most glamorous blocks. The New York Public Library will have 29,000 square feet on the new tower’s lower floors to replace its old branch. The NYPL planned to sell the property to Orient-Express Hotels, which in turn sold the purchase contract to Starwood Capital last year. The project is to open in 2014. No rendering is available. The developers have declined to identify the new hotel. But five weeks ago, we wrote the “smart money” was on Baccarat, a brand linked to the fabled crystal house and to which Starwood Capital’s SH Group holds the license.

Over the weekend, industry blogger Andrew Calvo wrote that the Baccarat name just popped up on Starwood Capital’s website next to a March 2011 press release about the then-unidentified project — so our call was “confirmed,” Calvo said. The Baccarat tower is expected to cost around $400 million. Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s T.J. Gottesdiener is the architect of record, while Enrique Norten is reportedly the design architect. Tribeca Associates, the lead developer, didn’t get back to us.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...#ixzz1sIKyHJso

NYguy · #49 Posted **Apr 17, 2012, 1:19 PM**

Let's hope activity here spreads accross to the Tower Verre site.

RobertWalpole · #50 Posted **Apr 24, 2012, 9:22 PM**

This is rather lame.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...WhatsNewsThird

Starwood's Crystal Vision Article Stock Quotes Comments more in Real Estate Main | Find New $LINKTEXTFIND$ »Email Print Save ↓ More
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By CRAIG KARMIN And KRIS HUDSON

Quote:

Trying to tap into Manhattan's hot market for luxury apartments and high-end hotels, Starwood Capital Group's Baccarat Hotels and Resorts is launching a plan to develop a project across from the Museum of Modern Art.

Archpartners

An artist's rendering of Starwood Capital Group's Baccarat Hotel, set to open in midtown Manhattan in 2014. The $403 million development will include 115 hotel rooms and 64 high-end residences.
The $403 million development will include 115 hotel rooms with some rates that Starwood said will exceed $800 a night and 64 residences that the real-estate investor hopes will be among the city's most expensive on a square-foot basis.

The hotel looks to capitalize on the tony image of Baccarat Crystal, the French manufacturer of fine glassware that Starwood acquired in 2005.

The hotel will feature Baccarat chandeliers, a boutique store selling crystal with price tags up to $10,000, and crystal museum pieces that will rotate through the lobby.

"We're going to marry Louis XV with the modern era," said Barry Sternlicht, Starwood Capital's chief executive officer and chairman of Baccarat. "We will be catering to high-end couples and business travelers who may be shopping on Fifth Avenue."

While Mr. Sternlicht said Starwood and its partners are putting up to $161 million of equity into the project, he will be shopping for a construction loan at a time when lending has been scarce for new hotel projects. The company hasn't scheduled a groundbreaking.

Mr. Sternlicht gained renown as a hotelier for creating what is now Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. HOT +0.83%by combining brands such as ITT Sheraton and Westin as well as creating the trendy W brand.

He has planned for years to forge Baccarat into a chain of luxury boutique hotels, but several early projects ran aground, such as one in Hawaii that didn't generate enough condominium sales and another in Anguilla that ran short of financing.

Write to Craig Karmin at craig.karmin@wsj.com and Kris Hudson at kris.hudson@wsj.com

Dac150 · #51 Posted **Apr 24, 2012, 9:43 PM**

I rather like it - obviously nothing special, however it's simple and works for that area.

aquablue · #52 Posted **Apr 24, 2012, 9:51 PM**

In what way does the Asian customer appreciate this hotel brand compared to an American or European customer? He appears to be saying that Asian customers will appreciate these hotels m ore than their US counterparts. Is there really not enough market in the US to support more luxury hotels like this, that is sad if true.

yankeesfan1000 · #53 Posted **Apr 24, 2012, 11:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dac150

I rather like it - obviously nothing special, however it's simple and works for that area.

I agree. I wasn't expecting anything ground breaking, but it's not that bad really, and Tower Verre will eventually be built right across the street so people probably won't even notice this.

Hopefully this: "New York City has about 90,000 hotel rooms, but five-star hotels are lacking in Manhattan compared to other cities like Paris or London," said Tom McConnell, a hotel analyst with real-estate broker Cushman & Wakefield," means we'll see the other midtown mixed use buildings and hotels resume construction or start this year.

NYguy · #54 Posted **Apr 25, 2012, 1:09 AM**

Looks better than I thought it would from simply looking at the massing...

reencharles · #55 Posted **Apr 25, 2012, 3:51 AM**

Honestly, I was a little disappointed ... I expected something a little bolder. Another building with black glass...

At least, it will be a good filling ... Does the height will remain the same? (as it says at the top of the thread 610 ft).

NYC2ATX · #56 Posted **Apr 25, 2012, 6:32 AM**

I like it, it's very chic and slick looking. If there's dark-tinted glass on the facade and some sort of black stone on the side, this will make for a stunning, refined structure. Very appropriate for the area. I give my tentative approval

Though, as we always say here on SSP, the facade materials will make or break this tower.

SkyscrapersOfNewYork · #57 Posted **Apr 25, 2012, 3:48 PM**

The proportions of the tower bother me,i feel like the bottom portion of the tower is too bulky and the architectural setback on the top looks cheap. Not a bad filler,though something of greater grandeur could have definitely risen here.

JayPro · #58 Posted **Apr 25, 2012, 7:53 PM**

Is the recessed area at the left just that or is it open-spaced? The blue in that corner is either sky or the facade's reflection of it.

yankeesfan1000 · #59 Posted **Apr 25, 2012, 11:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayPro

Is the recessed area at the left just that or is it open-spaced? The blue in that corner is either sky or the facade's reflection of it.

Looks that way. I'd imagine it'll be a private area for whomever buys the upper most unit, views will certainly be pretty nice whether it's a hotel space or private.

NYguy · #60 Posted **Apr 26, 2012, 12:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by StatenIslander237

I like it, it's very chic and slick looking. If there's dark-tinted glass on the facade and some sort of black stone on the side, this will make for a stunning, refined structure.

It's the sleekness that sells it for me. It reminds me of the Seagram Building in an odd way.

Seagram by noktulo