Real Estate

Hotels hitting hipster ’hood

The hotel wars are headed to Williamsburg.

Andrew Zobler’s Sydell Group has closed on a large parcel in Williamsburg, where sources say he intends to develop a Freehand hotel aimed at capturing the energy of an upscale youth hostel.

Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. is an investor in the brand, which already has an outpost and a chic rep in Miami. According to the company’s website, Roman and Williams will be the design team for 10 locations.

In late December, Sydell paid the Rosenwach Group, a family-owned wood water- tank company, a cool $10 million for the three parcels along Wythe Avenue between N. 9th and 10th streets. Land records show a full 200 feet of frontage on Wythe and 144 feet on each of the streets.

Zobler developed the neighborhood-changing Ace Hotel in NoMad on W. 29th Street before splitting with his partner, Alan Gross.

Zobler then joined with Burkle and Square Mile Capital to finance the NoMad Hotel, the larger rival that opened a year ago at 1107 Broadway.

The parcel in Williamsburg is two blocks from the crowded Brooklyn Bowl, which is across the street from the aptly named Wythe Hotel.

The Wythe Hotel was a former wooden cask factory purchased by Jed Walentas of Two Trees Management for $9.5 million in 2009.

He and his partners, Australian hotelier Peter Lawrence and local restaurateur Andrew Tarlow, turned it into an upscale food mecca with Reynaud, while preserving the authentic brick-and-board vibe with decor designed by Morris Adjmi.

No one returned calls for comment.

***

Near the Ace, another hotel is now on the market. The 72-key MAve Hotel at 62 Madison Ave. on the northwest corner of E. 27th Street is being offered by Marc Magazine of Savills Hospitality. It could fetch around $30 million, or $400,000 to $450,000 per key.

The 12-story hotel was bought in 2008 for $32 million and got a $7 million gut renovation in 2009. Amenities include two penthouses, a fitness center and roof access for current cellphone providers.

The hotel is being sold through a bankruptcy-court auction at a time when the hotel market is flourishing with more than 52 million visitors to the city. First-round bids are due June 14.

“It is free and clear of management and free and clear of flag,” said Magazine. “It will be sold to the highest bidders.”

A 2,200-square-foot corner retail space is vacant, which can provide some more upside.

“They could put their own restaurant in there or lease out for additional revenue,” said Justin Magazine, Marc’s son who is also on the team.

This area around Madison Square Park, known as NoMad, already has a busy nightlife, thanks to the nearby Ace, NoMad and Gansevoort Park Ave. Marriott’s Edition is also being developed in the Clock Tower.

***

The City Council is mulling a so-called Brunch Bill that would allow restaurants and cafés to start serving their popular Sunday brunches before noon.

The bill, proposed by Council Member Dan Garodnick and others, has garnered a lot of support.

A church-friendly 1971 law currently prohibits dining before noon. Backers of the bill want that clock turned back to the more convenient 10 a.m. time.

Gabriel Levinson, a lawyer with Tarter Krinsky & Drogin who counts building owners and co-op boards among his clients, said changing the law could create big headaches.

If brunch service starts at 10 a.m., restaurants will start clanging tables and chairs on the streets outside residential buildings as early as 8 a.m. or 9 a.m., he said.

“It will affect the peace, comfort and conveniences of the residents who spend upwards of $1 million on their apartments,” Levinson said.

He also thinks places that don’t bother opening on Sundays now may find the extra hours worth their while, bringing noise and garbage where before there was peace and quiet.

Already, the new daytime hotel parties at places like the Gansevoort Park Avenue — transplanted here from the rowdy and popular Las Vegas hotel pools — are causing problems and litigation for area residents.

Levinson said the slippery brunch slope could lead lawmakers to amend New York State liquor laws that also ban alcohol sales before noon on Sunday. After all, who would want their brunch at 10 a.m. without a Bloody Mary?

Stay tuned.

***

Lenox Hill Hospital/North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has renewed its lease for 70,434 square feet at 110 E. 59th St.

The 15-year deal includes the 8th through 10th floors of the 37-story mid-block tower between Park and Lexington avenues, where asking rents are $70 a foot.

Brian Waterman and Brent Ozarowski of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the hospital tenant. Dennis P. Brady of Jack Resnick & Sons represented the building owner in-house.

***

Blue & Cream, the designer boutique that opened on the Bowery five years ago and is frequented by bold face names Kiefer Sutherland and Anne Hathaway, has renewed and expanded from No. 1 into No. 3 E. First St.

The original 10-year lease at 1 E. 1st of 1,584 feet had an additional five-year option. Now, proprietor Jeff Goldstein has leased the adjacent space vacated by Loris Diran at 3 E. 1st of 879 square feet, creating a large flagship of 2,463 feet.

“I had my eye on this space and we negotiated with Avalon Bay to reset the lease,” he said. The new 10-year leases have two, five-year options and co-terminate.

Goldstein, whose original nine-year-old store is in East Hampton at 60 On the Circle, has also added a new 1,800 square-foot store at 83 Main St. that will open in time for Memorial Day weekend. Rent is about $100 a foot.

Last July, a Main Street pop-up shop showed him there was demand that didn’t cannibalize the On the Circle store.

That shop, now leased from Donald Zucker, rents for $127 a foot. Next door, at No. 62, the local Steph’s Stuff will move in for the summer.

Clients, he says, are friends, family, city people and celebrities who summer in the Hamptons.

“That’s what a Blue & Cream lifestyle is,” said Goldstein. “And now we also get European visitors.”

Main Street already has four Ralph Lauren stores, which include a kids store, and Double RL. Alice + Olivia has also moved across Main Street, while a C Wonder will open in its old spot.

Let the sun, surf and shopping begin.