Developer Files Plans For 25-Story Garment District Hotel

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Developers have filed plans with the city Department of Buildings to construct a 25-story hotel in the Garment District that will bring 166 to the area, according to public records.

The Mayflower Group's Wei Hong Hu filed plans with the city to develop the new 249-foot tower on West 35th Street between Ninth and Eighth avenues. The site is currently occupied by two low-rise buildings that appear to be vacant and is part of the city's Special Garment Center District.

New York's City Council passed a rezoning of the district in December that is supposed to help protect the area's historic garment manufacturing industry and curb the development of hotels. Two hotels currently operate on the block of the Mayflower Group's proposed development.

New hotel construction in the Garment District requires a special permit from the City Planning Commission, according to the zoning text amendment passed last year.

According to the zoning amendment, hotels in the area are considered acceptable on the following conditions:

• The planned hotel will not impair "the achievement of a diverse and harmonious mix of commercial, manufacturing and community facility use":
• The planned hotel fits with the character of buildings in the district;
• The planned hotel will not add undue vehicle or pedestrian congestion to the district;
• The planned hotel is consistent with planning objectives in the district.

Preliminary building plans filed by the Mayflower Group suggest that the development may also include apartments. The plans to not specify how many of the planned 166 dwelling units will be apartments and how many will be hotel rooms. An eating and drinking establishment is also planned for the building, according to public records.

The Mayflower Group purchased the site of the planned hotel in 2016 for $28 million, according to city Department of Finance records. The West 35th Street development is the group's second hotel venture in Midtown Manhattan, having previously filed plans for a 29-story hotel near Bryant Park.