Luxury Hotel Brand Makes US Landing in NYC

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Six Senses New York, The Eleventh, rendering

New York—The Eleventh, HFZ Capital Group’s mixed-use Manhattan project, will become the site of Bangkok, Thailand-based Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas’ very first U.S. Property. The 137-room Six Senses New York will make its home in one of two towers at HFZ’s approximately $2 billion development.

The Eleventh is a prime spot for a hotel—or any other new product. The Bjarke Ingels Group-designed project will rise on a full-block at 76 11th Ave., along Manhattan’s popular High Line park in West Chelsea. HFZ acquired the site for $870 million last year with the help of a $1 billion debt and equity financing deal, according to law firm Mayer Brown, which represented HFZ in the transaction. The sustainability-centric Six Senses New York will occupy 10 floors in The Eleventh’s East Tower, and in addition to guestrooms no smaller than 400 square feet, it will feature the resort and spa management company’s signature spa, two restaurants and meeting space. And if all goes as planned, it will also offer a private members club.

“Six Senses will bring something completely unique to the New York City hospitality space while helping us realize our vision for The Eleventh,” Ziel Feldman, chairman & founder of HFZ Capital Group, said in a prepared statement. “As a company we share in Six Senses’ commitment to a forward-thinking, environmentally conscious mentality that makes no compromise on quality and service, making this the perfect partnership.” Private equity fund Pegasus Capital Advisors LP, parent company of Six Senses since 2012, is also a partner in HFZ’s development of The Eleventh.

Six Senses New York will break new ground. In addition to being Six Senses’ first U.S. property, the hotel will mark the brand’s debut in an urban location. However, the upscale lodging destination won’t just be a first for Six Senses; it will be a first for Manhattan’s West Side as well. With Six Senses New York, the West Side enters five-star hotel territory. The lodging property also joins the long list of new hotel projects in the Manhattan pipeline.

At midyear, there were 91 hotels totaling 19,400 rooms under construction or in the planning stages in New York City’s most celebrated borough, according to a report by hospitality consulting firm Horwath HTL. The hefty growth in supply didn’t relent during the first half of 2016, overtaking demand growth and pushing up ADR and RevPAR. However, there appears to be no threat of a glut in Manhattan’s hotel market on the horizon. Per the report, “By the end of 2016, the drop rate of occupancy is expected to slow down, driving up the ADR and RevPAR.”

Six Senses New York is scheduled to open in 2019.

Rendering courtesy of Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas