West 42nd Street to be transformed by new hotel, retail

Changes are afoot on 42nd Street. The Blackstone Group, owner of Midtown office tower 1095 Sixth Avenue, has finally filed demolition plans for 124 West 42nd Street, a vacant five-story building it owns in the same area on the blockfront of West 42nd Street Between Sixth Avenue and Broadway, the New York Post reported. The demolition will make room for the company’s long-awaited three-story, glass-enclosed retail building, which will contain 42,000 square feet.

Highgate Holdings has also begun test borings at 136 West 42nd Street, its vacant lot slated to become a hotel, the Post said. Highgate is in contract to sell the new hotel — which will have between 250 and 400 rooms — to Diamond Rock Hospitality. There is no official start date for construction, said the company’s New York manager Vijay Raina.

Bradley Mendelson, executive vice president of Cushman & Wakefield, is overseeing retail leasing at 1095 Sixth Avenue, 124 West 42nd Street and also in the new hotel. [Post, 1st item]