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Gregory Peck Gets Serious About Cooper Square

Where: 27 Cooper Square [map], New York, NY, United States, 10003

This summer is shaping up to be the summer of hoteliers in magazines. The latest to join the group is Gregory Peck who gets all serious in the Sur la Terre magazine about his hotelier business (Sorry, no online link available!)

The piece is just a simple Q&A with Peck about how he got started in the hotel world (he used to work for Northstar Capital which funded several Ian Schrager hotels) and what his hotelier philosophy is about.

Oh yeah, and a little bit about Cooper Square. Nothing that we or Klaus Ortleib haven't already told you though.

Some tidbits after the jump.

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Tags: Hot Hotelier News / Cooper Square / Manhattan Hotels / Klaus Ortleib / → All Tags

Klaus Ortleib Dishes on Cooper Square to GQ:: "Everything Except Hookers and Drugs"

Klaus Ortleib, the man who has scooted in as the third "partner" in the beleaguered Cooper Square Hotel did a feature spot in GQ magazine (sorry, no online link) where he dishes on his favorite things--in and out of hotels.

What we learn about Klaus, the former manager at the uber-cool THOR Hotel on the LES:

· One of nine kids in a Catholic family from Germany. Umm..Fun?
· Trained under both Ian Schrager and Andre Balazs.
· He loves horses.
· He always wears pressed clothes.
· $5.99 glasses from Duane Reade make him happy.
· He drives a sick ride--a 2008 Range Rover.

Now about the hotel things. Rooms at Cooper Square will all have real live books inside of them. Guests can also expect some good service as this is important to Klaus who once worked at Claridge's in London.

I get very turned off when people say, "I can't do it." What do you mean? I tell everyone at my hotels: Provide everything the guests want except hookers and drugs.

Although, if you like to travel with your own ashtray (and if you do, you're a weirdo!) then be careful as Klaus admits he is a bit of klepto when it comes to cool astray designs.

[Photo: GQ]

Tags: Gregory Peck / Matt Moss / Cooper Square / → All Tags

PM Linkage: Guess What? Matt Moss and Gregory Peck Don't Like Each Other

Dear Diary,

We can't believe it! Matt Moss and Gregory Peck, once besties growing up on Long Island, are like totally never speaking to each other again.

We kinda figured there was some trouble brewing when we interviewed Gregory Peck over the summer about the Cooper Square Hotel and he couldn't put us in touch with Matt Moss, only Matt's publicist. And then Matt's publicist was like "Whatever!" And then we had to rush off to P.E.

Anyways, the New York Observer totally outed the fight today and all these grown-up investors are like really POed that Moss isn't keeping them in the loop.

But like OMG, Matt Moss totally went behind Greg Peck's back and is starting MK Hotels with Klaus Ortleib and this is the group that will run the hotel. This is exactly what our Ouija board exclusively told us!! Major Dramz! But that's all for now. Gotta sing along to High School Musical. Luvya!

In other news safe for your diary:
· Palms Place will have celebrity residents like Hulk Hogan, Paul Stanley of KISS and Jessica Simpson. Well, we didn't say A-list celebrities. [The Vegas Eye]
· The Water Club at the Borgata will open in June. [Newsday]
· Looks like Diablo Cody celebrated her Oscar at the Four Seasons. We'd know that flower anywhere. [Egotastic]
· NYC might get a Ferry Building Hotel! [NYT]
· SNL coming to Vegas? [Rush&Molloy]

Tags: Matt Moss / Cooper Square / Anti-View / Hotel News / Hotel Hype / → All Tags

Matt Moss Thinks Tenement Laundry is Something You Want to See When Paying $500+ A Night

We must have missed this over the MLK Holiday but we were recently googling the drama-plagued Cooper Square Hotel yesterday and we came across this article in the NY Times from January 20th.

The topic is how NYC developers are working around tenants who refuse to move or be relocated. This is actually something that Gregory Peck told us about when he talked Cooper Square last summer.

The hotel is attached to a four-story tenement building which will not be torn down and will instead continue to house its long-time residents on the top two floors. The Cooper Square Hotel will keep offices on the second floor and basement.

We are a bit torn here because no one wants to see long-term residents booted for a large vibrator-shaped hotel but Matt Moss might be overreaching about his hotel guests' expectations.

Mr. Moss says he considers it an asset that guests in the $100 million hotel, which opens this summer, may peer down on a tenement roof where laundry is being hung out to dry.

"That's the kind of thing people want to see," he said.

Um...no. Granted this is NYC and most hotel room views are of a brick wall so looking at laundry could be an improvement. Yet saying that guests paying $500+ a night would want to see tenement laundry might be stretching it a bit.

Also, we think Matt may not have quite understood the whole hotel voyeurism trend. It's the guests who are supposed to be the objects of voyeurism, not the residents next door.

We wanna know what you think. Is laundry on the line an asset now when staying on the Bowery? Put your thoughts here.

[Photo: MDash]

Tags: Matt Moss / Gregory Peck / Hot Hotelier News / Cooper Square / → All Tags

He's Not Imaginary or Invisible Anymore: Matt Moss Speaks Out on Cooper Square

In a New York article, Matt Moss finally weighed in on the Cooper Square Hotel, a project he's developed with his frenemy Gregory Peck.

The hotel's backers are looking to buy three adjacent lots and the residents are to say the least, concerned. As you know, this is a pretty feisty bunch and they have resisted the hotel from the very beginning.

But what has them really concerned now is the planned second-floor terrace which ends just 30-inches from an apartment building next door. Thus they are presuring the community board to withhold a liquor license until the hotel can ease the residents' fears. And here is where Matt Moss speaks:

"The block association gave us a list of their concerns," says developer Matthew Moss of the Peck Moss Group. "We agreed right off the bat to half of them or so, but some of the things they wereasking for were a little difficult for us to agree to" and those are items that are still being discussed.

Still Moss agreed to soundproof the windows and air conditioners in nearby apartments so the residents won't have to deal with hotel party noise. The only glitch is that the landlord in the East 5th Street apartment building won't let installations proceed.

And the saga continues. We bet Gregory Peck is just relieved his name wasn't mentioned this time around.

Related Stories:
· Dubai on the Bowery [NY Mag]
· Gregory Peck and Matt Moss: They was just frontin' [HotelChatter]
· Gregory Peck Talks Cooper Square [HotelChatter]

Tags: Gregory Peck / Hotel News / Cooper Square / Matt Moss / Klaus Ortlieb / → All Tags

Gregory Peck and Matt Moss: They Was Just Frontin'

Cooper Square Hotel, September 2007.

A while back we wrote about how hotelier Gregory Peck was definitely still involved in the Cooper Square Hotel project but as we did, we noticed some obvious cracks in the friendship/work relationship with co-developer Matt Moss.

We couldn't get Matt Moss to speak with us and even verifying the Peck-Moss partnership with Moss' people was somewhat of a struggle. Nevertheless, we learned that Peck was still in on an ownership level and that Cooper Square would be opening sometime in April 2008.

But then we received a tip from HotelChatter reader Low Pro who says that Matt Moss is pursuing another partnership with Cooper Square's general manager Klaus Ortlieb.

I know for a fact that Matt Moss and Klaus Ortlieb were pursuing a deal here in NYC under the company name of MK Hotels. According to a friend who went to Penn with Moss, they are planning on pursuing deals on the strength of Klaus' reputation with Andre [Balazs] and THOR and Matt's experience first with Related and then as a strip mall developer in Long Island.

As for what's happened between Moss and Peck, Low Pro says its a united front strictly for the hotel opening but that they are not partners anymore. Who knows if Low Pro's info is spot on, but if it is, it sure does fill in some holes. Either way, don't expect anymore hotels from PeckMoss ever again.

As for MKHotels, we already found a website under that name but its for Molinaro Koger and they offer hotel real estate advisory and brokerage services. So we're thinking whatever MK Hotels deals are going on are probably still in the pipe dream stage.

Whose team are you on--Team Peck or Team MossKlaus? Comment here.

Related Stories:
· Gregory Peck Talks Cooper Square [HotelChatter]

Tags: New York Hotels / Thompson Hotels / Cooper Square / → All Tags

Snapshot:: Cooper Square Construction Continues

Now that Six Columbus is taking reservations, we have half a mind to lay off the New York hotel scene and its never-ending delays. But with so many other projects to spy on, we just can't bring ourselves to do it.

So the other day when we were walking down the Bowery, we snapped this shot of The Cooper Square Hotel, which is coming right along, just a few blocks north of the Bowery Hotel and The Lafayette House Hotel.

And getting back to Jason Pomeranc, once Six Columbus opens we'll have the Smyth Tribeca to look forward to in 2008 and Thompson Lower East Side which is just "coming soon."

Related Stories:
· Gregory Peck Talks Cooper Square [HotelChatter]
· Manhattan Hotels coverage [HotelChatter]

Tags: Gregory Peck / Hotel Hype / Cooper Square / Hot Hotelier News / Interviews / → All Tags

Gregory Peck Talks Cooper Square

A HotelChatter Exclusive

The new luxury boutique hotel, Cooper Square Hotel, is rapidly rising in NYC's Bowery neighborhood. Its construction has been heavily chronicled here and on NYC blogs from the first design rendering ("full frontal") to the "high tech glass panels" Curbed spotted on the sidewalk last week. And don't forget our view of the construction from our bath at the Bowery Hotel last month.

But it's the drama that's been going on behind the scenes, that is creating the most noise. Last we heard, developer-not-the-actor Gregory Peck had been kicked out of Cooper Square, a hotel concept he developed with his partner and old high school buddy, Matt Moss, nearly three years ago.

Additionally, Cooper Square has faced tremendous opposition from the community who have complained about the design, the hotel's height, the construction and the hectic nightlife scene they fear the hotel will bring once it opens. Did someone say Meatpacking District?

Attempting to control the negative vibes about Cooper Square, Peck reached out to HotelChatter with his side of the story. More importantly, for hotel geeks like us he dished the details of what's inside amenity-wise at Cooper Square when its opens this spring.

The Full Interview After the Jump.

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Tags: Hotel Construction / Hotel Hype / Cooper Square / Hotel Projects / Manhattan Hotels / → All Tags

Cooper Square is Still Alive and Rising But a Liquor License is Looking Doubtful

Last time we checked in on the The Cooper Square Hotel there was some speculation that the hotel was being torn down before it even began. But  alas, the hotel will continue to rise.

Meanwhile, Eater reports that the hotel was pretty much denied a liquor license for their outdoor terrace due to lack of organization and political skills. However, the Bowery Hotel folk were able to get theirs using all the right moves. Or whatever, we just felt like referencing Tom Cruise's early days.

[Photo: Professor Bop]

Related Stories:
· Cooper Square Hotel No More [HotelChatter]

Tags: Hotel Hype / Hotel Closing / Cooper Square / Manhattan Hotels / Hotel Projects / → All Tags

Cooper Square Hotel No More?

Curbed is speculating today that the Cooper Square Hotel project might be over.

The site has posted numerous pictures (like this one) of the construction and reports that construction crews have been "seen using jack hammers to chew away at those crazy concrete columns" meaning that the hotel could be a tear down before it has even opened.

Which isn't that surprising given all the  drama with Gregory Peck and his PeckMoss development company which crashed and burned not too long ago. But to hack down a building that's half-way up is a big deal. Curbed has some ideas as to who or what could be behind this and commenters on the story are saying something was built wrong so they had to tear it down.

Either way, it's just another example of overzealous developers and feuding hoteliers who never seem to get the job done.

Related Stories:
· Cooper Square Hotel a Tear Down Before It's Even Up? [Curbed]

Tags: Gregory Peck / Manhattan Hotels / Hoteliers / Cooper Square / Hotel Projects / → All Tags

Gregory Peck Still Out at Cooper Square

Yesterday a curious tipster asked us if it was really true that Manhattan hotelier Gregory Peck was kicked off the Cooper Square hotel project, saying there was a rumor going around that Peck would handle "money and PR stuff."

Today, we learn our tipster answered their own question. They write in:

Peck is totally out of the Cooper Square Hotel project. [Mark] Moss might have worded it like Peck isn't with us anymore. I don't know if he used the word "fired" but definitely said Peck is gone.

Ok, now that that's squared away anybody interested in buying Peckmoss.com?

Related Stories:
· Is Gregory Peck Still Onboard at the Cooper Square Hotel Project? [HotelChatter]

Tags: Gregory Peck / Manhattan Hotels / Hoteliers / Cooper Square / Hotel Projects / → All Tags

Is Gregory Peck Still Onboard at the Cooper Square Hotel Project?

The last time we checked in on the Cooper Square Hotel project, Gawker reported that Gregory Peck (yes, the hotelier, not the actor) had been removed from the venture.

But a tipster who lives next door to the site has heard differently:

I live right next door to the site. Myself and my neighbors were extremely happy to hear this since we see first hand how much Peck and Moss are stepping all over their neighbors and neighborhood with this project. (We have a protest movement going so to speak with our own newsgroup about it, clandestine flyers, public meetings, etc). Anyway someone at my building got word that that wasn't true. That Peck has only been assigned to handle money matters and Peck will do all the PR stuff. (This was heard by someone in the community board 3).

Anyways, I was just wondering if you are sure what you have heard is still true.

Well, we can tell you one thing--the PeckMoss website is still pretty dead. Other than that, we're a little unsure of what could be happening here. Peck Moss was fired from designing the hotel but will handle money and PR? That just sounds odd.

Anyways, we'll be looking into this but send us your tips or comment below.

Related Stories:
· Gregory Peck Booted from Cooper Square Hotel Project [HotelChatter]