A New York hospitality company has agreed to open a trendy, Mondrian hotel in a development proposed for the Gold Coast neighborhood.

Morgans Hotel Group Co. has formed a joint venture with Chicago-based M Development Co. to build a 200-room hotel at 1118 N. State St.

The new, 250-foot building would replace the Cedar Hotel, but preserve the baroque, five-story façade of the building, which was constructed in 1924.

The new hotel, which is expected to be open in 2010, joins an increasingly crowded field of new, high-end projects, such as the Elysian Hotel and Residences, which is under construction at 11 E. Walton St. expected to open next year.

“Everybody is looking to distinguish themselves from the others, and it’s at a price point where you want some separation,” says hotel consultant Brian Flanagan, president of Chicago-based Property Valuation Advisors Inc.

The Chicago property would be the fifth Mondrian in the upscale chain, including the original hotel in Los Angeles, another in Scottsdale, Ariz. There are projects under development in Las Vegas and Miami.

Morgans’ small portfolio of nine boutique properties also include the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, the Delano Hotel in Miami, as well as three hotels in New York.

Hotelier Ian Schrager founded a predecessor to Morgans in 1983. He resigned as chairman and CEO two years ago.

“Morgans invented the boutique hotel,” Jeffrey Shapack, a principal in M Development, said in a statement.

The company went public last year, backed by NorthStar Capital Investment Corp., which retains a nearly 32% ownership stake.

The hotel company’s top two executives, Edward Scheetz and David Hamamoto, are NorthStar’s co-chairmen and co-CEOs. Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group is also a large shareholder, with a 7% stake.

Morgans will have a 49% stake in the Chicago joint venture, and operate the hotel under a 20-year management contract.

Information from: www.chicagobusiness.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2007 at 8:53 am and is filed under Hotel, Real Estate. Tags: Boutique Hotel Brian Flanagan Chicago Clift Hotel Dale development Elysian Hotel Gold Coast hotel group Hotels Investment group Las Vegas Los Angeles Miami New Hotel New York Projects Property Property Valuation Advisors Inc. Residences room hotel San Francisco Scottsdale The Gold Coast . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.