The site adjacent to 80 South Street — where architect Santiago Calatrava was planning his staggered cube tower, before the recession — will become something quite utilitarian in comparison, Curbed reported. A Fairfield Inn, a division of Marriot, will rise at the site, at 30 Fletcher Street, near the South Street Seaport.

Just a block from the South Street Seaport historic district, the hotel will be designed by Peter Poon Architects, and should be open by 2013. Digging has begun at the tiny lot, which measures 32 feet by 93 feet, according to Curbed. [more]

From left: Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Brooklyn and Staybridge Suites in Midtown Manhattan

Square Mile Capital Management and Blackstone Group said they completed a deal to buy a $385 million portfolio of hotel loans from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
The portfolio consists of 45 mostly limited-service or select-service hotels, including the Staybridge Suites at 340 West 40th Street in Manhattan and the Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Brooklyn at 181 Third Avenue in the Boerum Hill area of Brooklyn.

The firms did not disclose a price, but a source familiar with the deal confirmed that the 45-hotel portfolio, whose loans were all originated by the failed Atlanta-based Silverton Bank, was acquired for 80 cents on the dollar. [more]

There are close to 100 new hotels slated to open in major U.S. cities this year and 46 of them will be located in New York City, according to Smith Travel Research. The additions to the market — including five from Marriott under the Courtyard and Fairfield Inn brands and six from Starwood under the Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, W, Aloft and Element brands — are unlikely to help the existing nightly glut of unoccupied hotel rooms in many regions, but their seemingly poor timing may be mere coincidence, said Mark Lomanno, Smith Travel Research’s president.
A new hotel can take two to four years to plan and one to four years to construct, so most developers for this year’s hotels were taking their chances several years ago, when the economic outlook was much rosier, Lomanno said. Last week, Hyatt opened a 253-room Andaz hotel at 75 Wall Street. The company plans to open another Andaz on Fifth Avenue and 41st Street in June. Developers’ misfortune will probably benefit travelers by driving prices down and providing more choices, but only for a few years, travel experts said. Lomanno explained that while this year will be a big one for new hotels, there are few properties scheduled to come online between 2011 and 2013.

There are positive signs on the horizon for the New York City hospitality market with figures showing glimmers of good news and new hotels opening. According to Steve Hood, senior vice president of information technology at Smith Travel Research, 15 of the top 25 hotel markets saw an uptick in occupancy for the second week of October, to the overall tune of 27.4 percent. In Manhattan alone, the occupancy rate rose 5.6 percent. In Manhattan, the average room rate decreased by 15.4 percent to $253.61. Even though the city registered a decline, the average room rate was up 27 percent from January’s $199.09 average. Nationwide, occupancy rose 6.5 percent to 63.8 percent. The average daily rate increased 6.3 percent to $119.09 and the revenue per available room rate jumped 13.2 percent to $76.04. With the euro at record highs and the holiday season soon upon us, expect an increase in visitors to the Big Apple. These visitors will have the option of a whole host of newly completed hotels. [more]