LONDON—Firmdale Hotels, a boutique hotel company that owns and operates six properties in London, will open its first North American property, the Crosby Street Hotel, in New York in September. It’s been a long time coming, but Tim Kemp, who owns Firmdale with his wife, Kit, is convinced the time is right.
The 86-unit, 11-floor new-build, at Prince, Lafayette and Spring streets, will be a twist and extension to Firmdale’s last project, Haymarket, which was very art-based, Kemp said.
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“It’s going to be very much in the style of your SoHo area,” he said. “It’s going to be amusing. You’re going to come in, and you’re going to smile. We could do with a bit of that, don’t you think?” The Firmdale portfolio includes The Soho Hotel, Covent Garden Hotel, Charlotte Street Hotel and Haymarket Hotel in London’s West End, the Knightsbridge Hotel near Harrods and Number Sixteen in South Kensington.
Kemp envisions three Firmdales in New York City, including one in midtown, between 5th and 6th avenues. Manhattan is Firmdale’s sole U.S. focus because of the economy of scale.
“If you’re going to have your accounts, sales, maintenance and laundry, it’s better to centralize if you can,” Kemp said.
Staff already has been hired for the Crosby Street property, including Jakob Hansen, the GM, who comes from the Charlotte Street Hotel, a similar-sized property.
“He’s very international,” Kemp said. “He’s going to be an excellent manager.”
The Crosby Street ambience
Being green will be a focus for the property.
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“We’re doing everything we can to conform with the latest thinking about ecogreenness,” Kemp said, noting the property aims to be certified Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED. Crosby Street, which will showcase an American flag outside, will feature the latest in guest comforts. These include a ground-floor bar/restaurant, a central garden, a guests-only drawing room, a 100-seat state-of-the-art screening room and a well-appointed gym.
Guestrooms, featuring floor-to-ceiling, warehouse-style windows, will include a writing desk, flat-screen television, Wi-Fi, a DVD/CD player and iPod docking station. The upper floors will feature one- and two-bedroom suites. The hotel will even offer its own scent: “le jardin 10012,” created by Kit Kemp and Lyn Harris of London perfumer Miller Harris.
As is the case with all Firmdales, interior design is led by Kit Kemp, who emphasizes color, texture and art. She selected the art collection and is known for lending a touch of quirkiness to the Firmdale hotel atmosphere.
“Simplicity is good, and overstatement is not something we’re looking for,” her husband said. “We’re just coming into New York as strangers. We hope we’ll find a welcome. We certainly have so far. We don’t want to try to be too clever on any front, really. We’re hoping to offer a quiet, comfortable, cool and arty establishment.”
The Crosby Street process
Originally set to open this spring, the project has been rescheduled to open in September, and Kemp expects to get permits starting in June.
“The opening has only been rescheduled once because when we started, I was able to acquire another building on Lafayette Street, extending the site,” he said. “To make use of that, we had to turn the building around 180 degrees, and it took a little time for my professionals to get that through their heads.”
The change allowed for greater access to the hotel.
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“We’ve had experience as building contractors over the last 30 years,” Kemp said. “We understand you don’t just go out into somebody’s neighborhood and build. You have to have good-neighborly relationships, so people then come with you on your project rather than against you. We spent a lot of time meeting community people, the charities and the churches. Now, as a consequence, we have our liquor license, we got our zoning, and we have the support of all our neighbors. People in the area will be future clients.” While Kemp wouldn’t divulge the cost of the project, he was pleased Firmdale was able to buy all the dollars it used at US$2 to the pound.
“We got a 30-percent discount on the price of the dollar, which has made it a lot easier,” he said.
Not only is the Crosby Street Hotel on schedule and on budget, the Kemps don’t have much debt on the property.
When they decided to build Crosby Street about three years ago, even the best brains in the world didn’t know the world’s economy would be like it is now, Kemp said. Nevertheless, he’s confident the hotel will be a hit.
“September is a lovely time of the year to be in New York, and we’ve got a product that’s unbeatable, with a slightly different twist, and it’s in a very desirable location.”
The Kemps count on an eclectic and discerning clientele.
“A lot of people talk about exceeding expectations, but I’ve been staying in New York once a month for the last three years and have tried pretty much all the hotels and realize it’s very, very difficult to exceed expectations,” he said. “We’re hoping with our expertise and dedication we’ll be able to do that.”