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Hotel Hype / 1 Hotels / Brooklyn Bridge Park Hotels / Hotel News / Starwood Capital / → All Tags

A Sign of The Changing Times? 1 Hotels Gets Resurrected

Last week, several possible hotel projects were released for the upcoming redevelopment of the Brooklyn Bridge Park area and amongst all the developers and their fancy architect teams competing for the gig, an eagle-eyed tipster pointed out one of the most interesting ones--1 Hotels.

You all remember 1 Hotels right? From Starwood Capital's Barry Sternlicht, formerly of Starwood Hotels? The dreams for the new eco-conscious luxury brand died when the economy collapsed and all that was left was a big hole in Seattle.

But the times must be a-changing because Starwood Capital is dusting off the plans for 1 Hotel yet again. The proposed 1 Hotel, designed by Bernheimer Architects, looks very Standard NYC-inspired (in that it's very boxy) although its location right on the waterfront is very cool. The hotel will have about 170-225 hotel rooms, a restaurant (The Brooklyn Park Brasserie), a cafe (The Daily Bread), a spa, a mini-farmer's market stall right out front and some residences.

Judging from exterior alone, there's nothing that really wows us about the 1 Hotel. Then again, we've long suspected it's what will be inside the 1 Hotel brand that will make them stand out.

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The 1 Hotel Seattle is Still Just a Hole in the Ground

This is what the proposed site for the 1 Hotel Seattle from master hotelier Barry Sternlicht looked like in February 2008. This is what it looks like now, in May 2009. We are struck by how remarkably similar this looks to the set of Parks and Recreation.

Yes, Sternlicht says that 1 Hotels "is still on" yet from past reports, we don't think the Seattle location is gonna make it. But while Sternlicht's talking about building a luxe green brand for the world's eco-conscious travelers, many hotels (both part of larger collections and independents) are already implementing green practices and some new buildings are obtaining LEED certifications. So Sternlicht better get on this fast.

Then again, leaving this lot undeveloped is actually pretty green in itself right now.

More 1 Hotel Seattle site snaps after the jump.

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Sneak Peek / 1 Hotels / Hotel Hype / DC Hotels / Hotel Construction / Hotel News / → All Tags

New Renderings Show Off Interiors for the 1 Hotel Washington DC

Where: 2201 M Street [map], Washington, DC, United States, 20037

After seeing demolition at the site of the 1 Hotel Washington DC and with Starwood Capital combining the 1 Hotel and Baccarat Hotel brands into their newly formed SH Group, we know that plans to build and open 1 Hotels are still alive, if not moving slowly.

And today, more news affirming the existence of 1 Hotels arrived--we found more renderings of the 1 Hotel Washington DC on the architect's website. (Yes, we know. We are nerds for caring so much.)

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Industry News / Barry Sternlicht / Starwood Capital / 1 Hotels / Baccarat Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags

How Barry Sternlicht Plans to Move Ahead With 1 Hotels

Ah, 1 Hotels. Such a mystery to us. A fantasy, even. But after years of being talked about and planned and hyped up...might you actually become a reality? Barry Sternlicht (who established Starwood Hotels) apparently thinks it's possible — even in this economy.

Now, we've mentioned him before as the man behind Starwood Capital's fabled 1 Hotel & Baccarat Hotel brands, two planned luxury chains that ran into some serious funding-related complications and were mostly either delayed or taken out of development entirely.

We'd put 1 Hotels on DeathWatch and were ready to write the brand off as a poorly-timed dream that never really came to fruition amidst the whole economic meltdown. And the Baccarat brand, in the opinion of one source we consulted, "was announced at the height of the market when everyone was frothin' at the mouth. And then the floor fell out before he could get all the cash to start an actual project, just like 1."

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1 Hotels / Hotel Hype / Hotel Construction / DC Hotels / → All Tags

1 Hotel Washington DC Might Actually Happen

Where: 2201 M Street [map], Washington, DC, United States, 20037

Even though all construction on Starwood Capital's 1 Hotel and Residences thoughout the country have been put on hold, we came across new photos and demolition activity on the site of the 1 Hotel Washington DC.

Perseus Realty, LLC, the developer of the 1 Hotel Washington DC recently posted a new rendering (above) of the hotel on their website and changed the project status to "Current Projects." Up until now, we've only seen pictures of a small corner of the hotel and it's been listed as under development since earlier this year.

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Hotel Deathwatch / Baccarat Hotels / 1 Hotels / Hotel News / Atlanta Hotels / → All Tags

An Atlanta Hotel Goes Down The Drain

Where: 3050 Peachtree Rd NW [map], Atlanta, ga, United States, 30305

In the past few years, Atlanta Georgia's Buckhead neighborhood has become the place for new luxury hotel projects, everyone from the Ritz-Carlton, St Regis, Sheraton, W, InterContinental, Westin, JW Marriott is either building a hotel or has a location there already.

The development which really put Buckhead on the map is called Streets of Buckhead, and has high-end shopping, restaurants and condos in addition to Starwood Capital's 1 Hotel & Baccarat Hotel, both of which were to include residences. Now it seems both of those hotels have been taken out of the development.

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1 Hotels Update :: Barry Sternlicht Loves Word Play and Mind Games

Where: United States

We know how Barry Sternlicht loves to surprise and create puns and play around with words: he named W Hotels because it's the only letter of the alphabet with more than one syllable, and W's whole marketing is based around putting W's in their promotions and creating words based on W.

So we shouldn't have been too surprised when 1 Hotels updated their website to remove the Paris and Mammoth Mountain locations, but left the Seattle, NYC, Washington DC and Scottsdale locations and added a new page about One - even though we've heard numerous rumors about the brand being put on indefinite hold.

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Hotel DeathWatch :: Starwood Capital's 1 Hotel Brand Turning Into Just One Hotel

With a very (very) heavy heart, we are reporting today on something from our sources: Starwood Capital's 1 Hotel & Residences brand is being substantially scaled back.

We mean like.. Instead of the 6 locations listed on their website, and an additional three locations announced since then (Atlanta-Buckhead, Cleveland, Ohio & Vancouver, BC), the world will only see one or two 1 Hotels open in the next few years, as the rest have been permanently or temporarily put on hold due to market conditions.

Our sources tell us that only the Vancouver, BC location and New York City location are still scheduled to be built, although the NYC location will probably not be in Bryant Park.

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Green Hotels / 1 Hotels / Hotel Hype / Barry Sternlicht / → All Tags

A Look at the Uber-Green Goodness Expected to Ooze Out of The 1 Hotel Vancouver Island

Where: Vancouver, BC, Canada

So two days ago we briefly reported how Starwood Capital and Marine Drive Properties is developing the 1 Hotel & Residences Vancouver Island in British Columbia (that would be Canada), within the Wyndansea development, but it took a day for us to realize just how cool this 1 Hotel location is.

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Hotel News Briefs :: More Hotels on the Horizon

· CitizenM Opens in Amsterdam: Tonight is the first night for guests at the CitizenM Hotel near Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. We have a spy scoping the place so stay tuned for a full review.

· The Artisan Hotel: This hotel in downtown El Paso is finally set to open on August 1 even though the owner has already put it back on the market.

· Palm Springs To Get a Hyatt Place: The developers of an upcoming Hard Rock Palm Springs is going to put in a Hyatt Place and a Marriott Residence Inn.

· 1 Hotel Set for Vancouver Island: Sternlicht and Co. are going ahead with plans for a 1 Hotel & Residences Vancouver Island at Wyndansea. The place will have 180 condo-units and 95 beach and golf villas.

1 Hotels / Baccarat Hotels / Crillon Hotels / Barry Sternlicht / Hotel Hype / Atlanta Hotels / → All Tags

Atlanta's Streets of Starwood Capital, er... Streets of Buckhead

1 Hotel on the Left, Baccarat on the Right

Atlanta's Buckhead community has had a lot of development lately. It's quickly becoming the Beverly Hills of Atlanta, with luxury developments springing up left and right.

One of the biggest developments is the Streets of Buckhead, which is a mixed-use development made up of luxury apartments, high-end retailers, an office building and three hotels. Two of these hotels are confirmed to be a 1 Hotel & Residences and Baccarat Hotel & Residences, both of which are from Starwood Capital.

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More 1 Hotels Are Coming To New York and Cleveland

On the left is the 1 Hotel & Residences NYC, on the right is the 1 Hotel & Residences Cleveland

After a long silence there is finally word from Barry Sternlicht's 1 Hotel and Residences for not one, but two projects! 1 Hotel & Residences New York, and 1 Hotel & Residences Cleveland (yes, that's right, Cleveland).

As we reported previously, the 1 Hotel & Residences New York is aiming to be one of NYC's first LEED Certified hotels, and will be in green company by being across the street from Bank of America's new high rise - New York City's first LEED Certified office building and at the foot of Bryant Park. After initially announcing the project back in 2006, it seems as though ground will finally break in August, with an opening date in late 2010 or early 2011.

And now, for the big news - the first new 1 Hotel & Residences location to be announced since 2006 - 1 Hotel & Residences Cleveland! While the location may not be as high roller like Miami, or Los Angeles or Baltimore (not like we're hinting Barry) - it's going to be located in America's first LEED-ND Certified development called The Flats East Bank. The 1 Hotel & Residences Cleveland will have 150 hotel rooms, 50 condos and of course the obligatory B.R. Guest restaurant.

And lastly, we just found out that 1% of all revenues from the 1 Hotels throughout the world will be donated to local environmental groups. Ah, yes, just another reason why we love Barry Sternlicht so much.