Sharif El-Gamal’s Dream Hotel starts to take shape

Sharif El-Gamal has tapped New York-based architecture and design firm Stonehill & Taylor to guide the developer’s planned 120,000-square-foot Dream Hotel and retail center in the Garment District.

The firm will design the 205 West 40th Street property’s exterior and interior, the New York Observer reported. MHP Real Estate Services, Soho Properties and Hampshire Hotels Management are partners on the project.

“Their collaborative approach to design has produced internationally acclaimed boutique hotels, including the NoMad, Crosby Street and refinery hotels in New York,” Sharif El-Gamal, chairman and CEO of Soho Properties, told the Observer of the selected architects. “Stonehill & Taylor has also created prototype designs for brand new brands for some of the world’s largest hospitality flags.”

The hotel will be Hampshire’s third Dream Hotel in Manhattan, joining the chain’s other locales at 210 West 55th Street and the flagship Dream Downtown at 355 West 16th Street. The partnership trio purchased the site in October for $61.5 million as part of a development project valued at over $300 million. [NYO] — Julie Strickland