Bronx hotel banks on new Yankee Stadium

Developers planning a new Bronx hotel are counting on the new Yankee Stadium to spur demand for more hotel rooms.

V3 Hotels is building a 40,000-square-foot hotel at 115 East 146th Street, between River and Gerard avenues, overlooking the Major Deegan Expressway, said company CEO Ben Nash.
 
The new Yankee Stadium, which will be less than a mile away, broke ground in August and is slated to open by April, 2009. Also being built nearby is the Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market, which will create about 1 million new square feet of retail space. Local shops will mix with national retailers like Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Target, Best Buy, Staples and Marshalls.

Offering limited services, with no amenities like food and beverage, the hotel will have 83 rooms on 10 floors with prices ranging from $130 to $150.
V3 hasn’t chosen the franchise for the hotel, but wants it to be a boutique hotel.
 
Nash estimates the project will cost $18 to $20 million. V3 bought the property, which has a mechanic shop on it, less than nine months ago for $4 million, he said. Michael Kang, who has designed hotels for developer Sam Chang, is the architect. Construction will begin in a month and will be completed within a year and a half, Nash said.
 
V3, based in Long Island City, is also building a Clarion hotel there at 40-03 29th Street, on the corner of 40th Avenue, which the company hopes to sell before its February opening. The 40,000- to 50,000-square foot hotel will have 87 rooms, on six stories. The limited-service hotel will have room rates of $149 and up a night.
 
V3’s biggest project in the works is the Karl Fischer-designed Indigo hotel at 237 Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn, which will be more upscale than the other two projects. Rooms could cost around $250 a night, although the prices will likely change by the 2010 opening, Nash said.