Chatwal Hotel
The effects of the economic downturn are being felt by developers citywide, but some are faring better than others. Though hotel and restaurant developer Sant Singh Chatwal and his son, Vikram, suffered from bankruptcies and lenders’ lawsuits in the last commercial real estate collapse, they seem to be recovering well, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Chatwal Hotel, an 83-room, $100 million-plus project in a landmark building in the Theater District is set to debut Wednesday. The Chatwals also plan to open hotels in Chelsea, Noho and Miami’s South Beach, modeled after two of their Times Square boutique hotels, the Dream and the Night. Chatwal has had their share of losses, as two of their nine New York hotels The Original Dream Hotel On West 55th StreetAnd The Time Hotel On West 49th Street — went delinquent on their securitized mortgages this year, according to Realpoint, a credit-rating agency. But at a time when other developers are cutting back, the Chatwals are expanding their hotel management company, with their ultimate goal to have 100 hotels within 10 years, Chatwal said. [WSJ]