If the mall makeover, influx of ten percenters, and Craft's semi-imminent arrival didn't alert you to the fact that Century City is all of a sudden H-O-T-T, the fall of the St. Regis Hotel might remind you. Related Co's (of New York's ho-hum Time Warner Center and LA's future Grand Ave project) spent $123 million last year to buy the hotel - only to tear it down. According to the LA Times, Related is demolishing the luxury hotel to build...luxury condos, betting that even in a slowing market, suckers prospective buyers will fork over $25 million to live near Fox Plaza née Nakatomi Plaza.
Why tear down a perfectly good hotel to build a new condo development? Apparently the low ceilings and exterior metal beams were the dealbreaker, since they would have limited window heights. Related did the math and figured paying over $100 million for the hotel, demolishing it, and spending another $300 million to build the condos is the most efficient use of the site. That all seems like chumpo change when you compare it to the Grand Ave project. Total cost: $1.8 billion.
· Condo Tower Will Replace St. Regis Hotel [LA Times]