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Charlie Palmer lands plum Knickerbocker Hotel partnership

Having spent $200 million to buy and restore the long-dormant Knickerbocker Hotel, owners FelCor Lodging Trust and property manager Highgate weren’t about to skimp on food and wine.

The Knickerbocker, presiding over the Times Square corner of Broadway and West 42nd Street since 1906, has tapped famed modern-American chef Charlie Palmer to run its restaurants and bars. The partnership reflects the cut-no-corners demands of the city’s super-heated, high-end lodging industry. The deal was first reported Wednesday on nypost.com.

FelCor bought what had long been a Class-B office building for $115 million in 2011 and took out an $85 million construction loan. This summer, it is to be reborn as a four-star inn for the first time in over 80 years.

Palmer owns Michelin-starred Aureole in the Durst Organization’s One Bryant Park across the street. He’ll now also oversee the Knickerbocker’s 120-seat fourth-floor café, a ground-floor grab-and-go spot, a private dining venue and a 7,550 square-foot indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge with room for 250 people.

The arrangement makes Palmer the kitchen king of West 42nd Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. Hotel guests wishing to eat off-site will be offered “priority access and preferential treatment” at Aureole.

The block’s south side had long been an eyesore across from One Bryant Park and 4 Times Square. The Dursts sound delighted by recent changes, including the Hilton Garden Inn construction next door.

Durst Organization President Jody Durst said, “Charlie is an outstanding operator, and we will look forward to the reopening of the Knickerbocker and its contribution to the neighborhood.”

Palmer lends the Knickerbocker instant culinary credibility, crucial to its local image. Manhattan hotels are enjoying nation-leading occupancy of more than 87 percent, but the Knickerbocker’s 330 luxury rooms and suites must compete with thousands more coming on line.

“The Knickerbocker’s ownership aims to establish it as one of the city’s best hotels,” Lodging Advisors analyst Sean Hennessey said. “Key to meeting that standard is to offer destination dining which has a reputation and allure beyond that of the hotel itself.”

Palmer’s company owns or operates 11 eateries and three hotels around the US. Known as a pioneer of “progressive American cuisine” with a farm-to-table emphasis, the award-winning chef frequently appears on TV.

“We didn’t want just a celebrity chef,” added Knickerbocker managing director Jeff David. “Charlie is a hotelier as well. He knows our business, and this is a passion project for him as well as for us.”

David said it was too soon to talk about room rates, but the Knickerbocker’s competitive market “niche” would include the Langham on Fifth Avenue, the Gansevoort Park, the NoMad and the Surrey. “They’re in our wheelhouse,” he said.

In contrast to the Knickerbocker’s landmarked, Beaux-Arts skin, the interior would be “very contemporary but not hip,” David said.

The Knickerbocker is expected to sign a contract with the famously tough New York Hotel & Motel Trades Council. It was unclear what role the union will have in the restaurants.