Earlier this week, the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp requested proposals for a full-service hotel near Yankee Stadium, but according to the Wall Street Journal, that’s a dicey proposition.
Lending is already tight in the current market. But considering the risk of building a full-service, amenity-rich hotel in the Bronx, financing may be next to impossible to obtain for such a project.
Though new hotels have been sprouting in Brooklyn and Queens, the Bronx is different. Brooklyn and Queens are more affluent than the Bronx, and the business districts in those boroughs are more vibrant and attract more tourists than those in the Bronx, John Fox, senior vice president at PKF consulting noted. “There is [also] a perception that it’s more distant, and you have to go further north,” he said.
While hotels have been under development in the Bronx — the Journal names a Days Inn hotel on Brook Avenue near 167th Street and a Holiday Inn Express under development at 146th and Exterior streets — they have few amenities and cheap rates. A full-service hotel with a conference room and restaurant charge higher rates and are more expensive to develop.
But Marlene Cintron, president of the development corporation, said Yankee Stadium is a big enough attraction to draw high-end users to a full-service hotel. [WSJ]