Luxury animal hotel at JFK hits a ruff patch

Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark

Bad business at a luxury animal hotel by JFK Airport has left the hotel’s developer barking mad.

Business at the Ark, which opened about a year ago, is more than 90 percent lower than projections with roughly $450,000 in revenue, and the owner is now suing the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey  for steering potential animal guests to another facility it owns upstate in Newburgh, according to Crain’s.

The Ark, developed by John Cuticelli of Racebrook Capital, says it invested $65 million to transform an empty cargo building into its 178,000-square-foot hotel and was granted exclusive rights to house and provide medical care for all animals going through JFK.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Stephen Meister, Cuticelli’s attorney, told Crain’s he did not know why the Port Authority was undermining its own tenant, which agreed to pay $138 million for a 27-year lease.

“The Lord, and the government, work in mysterious ways,” he said. [Crain’s]Eddie Small