with tradition of landing heritage assets in radial neighborhoods of major cities, Nine Orchard is right on target, located on a buzzy downtown corner, surrounded by hip restaurants and boutiques and far south from the tourist packs of Times Square. As a matter of fact, Nine Orchard occupies its own microneighborhood called Dimes Square, a riff off Times Square that is roughly the five blocks on either side of Canal Street between Allen Street and Essex Street.
The Lower East Side is where the monied mix with the downtown creative set. Nine Orchard, a former bank, stands as sentry and invitation, beckoning those to revel among its Beaux-Arts style design, which includes a domed tempietto on the rooftop, and its three F & B outlets, including Corner Bar, a cozy bistro that abuts Allen Street.
How MML became associated with the hotel is not entirely dissimilar to the Hotel Saint Vincent deal. Some transactions come together over a smile, a handshake and a
A custom-wallpapered bathroom at Hotel Saint Vincent.
shared vision and commitment. McGuire was already familiar with the hotel, having lived at one point in Chinatown, which runs just east of the hotel. Word came that the owner, DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners, was looking to sell the hotel. Soon after, McGuire had breakfast with Andy Rifkin, managing partner of DLJ, and the deal progressed from there.“ It was a competitive process, but we ended up with [ the hotel ] because we had a real relationship with the owner. We have very similar ideas and tastes,” McGuire said. For Rifkin, the hotel was a passion project: few expenses were spared to restore the Jarmulowsky Bank Building, which was built in 1912.“ It ended up being a very friendly deal. We want to preserve it,” McGuire said. Not much will be changed to the hotel, beyond what McGuire called a“ gentle repositioning” of the F & B and event spaces. In that sense, the deal has the feel of someone selling their home to someone else who will carry it forward in its original incarnation.“ We want to engage with the neighborhood and make the hotel a cornerstone of it,” McGuire said.
He is short to call MML’ s asset choices intentional, likening the selections to what he refers to as“ fringe luxury,” and in neighborhoods that are already cool, but still haven’ t hit their ceiling. He’ s proud to say that Hotel Saint Vincent, for one, has helped to transform the Lower Garden District.“ It’ s a very special building and there’ s just the scale of where it sits in the neighborhood,” McGuire said. He draws parallels to the Travis Heights neighborhood of South Austin he grew up in, where a quiet, leafy community has become a sought-after destination to
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