Silverstein Secures Financing for Four Seasons Hotel, Condo Project in Lower Manhattan

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Backed by a $660 million loan from a London investment fund, Silverstein Properties said it will begin construction this fall on a $950 million, 82-story skyscraper in Downtown Manhattan that will comprise a 185-room Four Seasons hotel and 157 luxury condos.

At 926 feet, it will be the tallest residential building in Downtown Manhattan and one of the tallest buildings in New York City. Located at Park Place and Church Street in Tribeca, the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences New York, Downtown, is expected to open by 2016. Now being called 30 Park Place, the site is the former Moody’s headquarters then known as 99 Church St. Silverstein Properties and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) bought the site from Moody’s in 2007. Silverstein unveiled plans for the hotel-condo project in January 2008 during an update on rebuilding efforts at the nearby World Trade Center site. But plans were put on hold following the fiscal downturn that started several months later causing credit markets to freeze.

Five years later, the project is moving ahead now that the financing has been secured from The Children’s Investment Fund Management L.L.P. of London.

“This project perfectly fits our investment strategy in New York City, which includes other high- end residential projects such as 432 Park Ave. and 737 Park Ave.,” Martin Frass-Ehrfeld, partner at TCIF, said in a news release. He said the fund was excited “to provide financing to a pristine group of partners.”

Larry Silverstein, president & CEO of Silverstein Properties, Inc., said the new tower will become a new and distinct landmark in the city’s skyline.

“It will join and enhance a world-class neighborhood that is already home to a dynamic blend of modern office towers, private residences, high-end retail and dazzling public spaces,” he said in the statement. “Downtown is fast becoming a vibrant, integrated, mixed-use destination on a scale not seen in New York City since Rockefeller Center in 1939.”

Robert A.M. Stern Architects is designing the building and the private residence floor plans and interiors. Yabu Pushelberg is designing the hotel interiors. SLCE Architects is the Architect-of-Record. Tishman Construction is the general contractor. The firm, which built 7 World Trade Center for Silverstein Properties in 2006, is also the general contractor for 3 and 4 World Trade Center. Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group expects to begin marketing and selling the condos in spring 2014.

“We are thrilled that the project at 99 Church is slated to go forward and contribute to the tremendous growth in Lower Manhattan’s hospitality industry,” a spokesperson for the Alliance for Downtown New York, told Commercial Property Executive. “As the buildings at the World Trade Center site come online and major tenants, including Conde Nast, open their doors in Lower Manhattan, this hotel and others will serve as a huge draw to the city’s leisure and business travelers.”

Before 9/11, there were six hotels in the area. There are now 18 and the number of hotel rooms has grown by 78 percent to 4,100, the spokesperson noted, adding that there should be 23 hotels with more than 5,100 rooms south of Chambers Street by 2014.

The spokesperson added that the alliance partnered with NYC & Co. beginning two years ago to showcase the area’s recovery and revitalization. The international campaign urging visitors to stay in Lower Manhattan hotels and eat and shop in the area has been very successful.

When it opens, the Four Seasons will feature three floors of lobbies, lounges, a restaurant, ballrooms, meeting facilities, a spa, fitness center and pool. The hotel entrance will be on Barclay Street and there will be a second entrance to the restaurant on Church Street. The public rooms of the hotel will overlook a landscaped public plaza.

“Adding a second hotel to our existing iconic property in New York on 57^th Street, will be a great addition to the portfolio of the Four Seasons,”  Scott Woroch, executive vice president worldwide development, Four Season Hotels and Resorts, said in the news release.

Silverstein Properties and the Four Seasons are also teaming up in Orlando, Fla., where the world’s largest Four Seasons resort is under construction on the northeast portion of Disney World. The 445-room luxury resort is expected to open in July 2014.