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The Freehand Chicago opened in 2015 , but the hotel dates back to 1927 when it purportedly became a popular Mafia hangout .
pick Generator ?” he said . The answer , again , is in the business model , which Aby Rosen , a legendary New York real estate tycoon , whose hotels have included the famed Gramercy Park Hotel and skyscrapers like the Mies van der Rohe-designed Seagram Building , is a believer in . Loads of management companies vied for the hotel ( Highgate managed it previously ), but as Thomann told it , all he had to do was show Rosen a Generator profit-andloss statement . It bowled him over and sealed the deal .
It was a similar deal in Berlin , where Generator already had two hotels . Three might be a crowd , but it didn ’ t prevent Schroders Capital from installing Generator as the operator of the newly opened Generator Berlin Alexanderplatz , which Thomann calls an “ insane location .” Once again , Generator , Thomann argued , sold itself . The model ,
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Thomann conceded , doesn ’ t work everywhere , but in the markets it seeks out , it does . Alexanderplatz in a year should do as much as two-and-a-half times better than the property did before when it operated as ONE80 ° Hostels Berlin , Thomann said . “ I call it high compression markets — high rate , high occupancy . That ’ s where we excel ,” he said . “ What we do is we maximize the return per square meter .”
The focus is now on opening the Paramount and getting that right before announcing any
A Three ’ s Company room at Freehand New York .
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new Generator deals . But they are out there and soon to come . Generator is still a rather small outfit , around 35 people sit in its London headquarters , but they are scaling up . Thomann didn ’ t offer specifics , but said that the next properties announced will be in Asia , Australia and the Middle East , likely assetlight , third-party management contracts . Ultimately , Thomann said there are enough markets for as many as 120 Generator properties .
Freehand , meanwhile , is not as much a volume play , but 40
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to 50 is not out of the realm of possibility , Thomann suggested . They require and rely on a large volume of food and beverage and unique locations and often historic buildings . Freehand Los Angeles , for instance , was converted from the Commercial Exchange Building and opened in 2017 . The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 . Freehand New York Hotel in Gramercy Park was initially the George Washington Hotel , which originally opened in 1928 . Freehand Chicago , née the Tokyo Hotel , which dates back to the 1920s , opened in 2015 .
Looking to the future is how Thomann sets the course for Generator . That and courting owners by pushing its value proposition built on efficiency . “ For us , 2024 has already happened . I ’ m all about 2025 and 2026 ,” he said . “ We ’ re contracting now for then and the biggest relief is to see that 2025 is going to be even stronger than 2024 . This whole fear of at what point do markets tip ? It doesn ’ t seem to be happening . Thank goodness .”
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72 hotelsmag . com July / August 2024 |