The founder of the ultra-hip Ace Hotel in Manhattan has died, the hotel announced Friday.
“Yesterday Alex Calderwood passed away,” the Ace Hotel blog stated.
“Alex was our teacher, mentor, guru and most importantly our dear friend. We will miss him.”
No details were given on how or where the 45-year-old Calderwood died, but in a 2011 interview with The New York Times, he said he had spent time in rehab but had been sober for five months.
Calderwood co-founded the Ace Hotel Group in Seattle in 1999, but quickly expanded to Portland, Ore., London, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Panama — and Manhattan, on West 29th Street near Broadway in 2007.
“The intention has always been to create an ‘instant classic,’ ” Calderwood told The Post in 2011.
The Ace Hotel became a magnet for the city’s creative and fashionable young people, with an eclectic mix packing the hotel lobby and restaurants John Dory Oyster Bar and the Breslin.
“He was always great,” the host at the Breslin said Friday night. “I don’t know what happened. He was just here last week. He was only 45, so it’s kind of shocking.”
Fans of Calderwood’s hotels took to Twitter to express their grief.
“Sad to hear the passing of ACE Hotel founder Alex Calderwood,” tweeted Mark Ury.
Calderwood, a Seattle native, made his name in the city’s grunge days throwing warehouse parties and corporate events