Midtown’s hotel boom is showing signs of accelerating, as another new hotel is about to begin rising at 18-22 West 56th Street. Demolition is already in full-swing, and permits for the new building are in the process of being re-filed, after being disapproved in late August. Designed by Stonehill & Taylor, the structure has a tentative height of 16 floors and 196 feet.
Stonehill & Taylor has a positive track record in Manhattan, though the firm’s website has no mention or renderings of 18-22 West 56th Street – at the proposed height, it will nearly be invisible anyways. With a total of 86 rooms, the hotel will likely fall into the boutique category, especially as Stonehill & Taylor typically cater to high-end developments; besides 18-22 West 56th Street, the firm also designed the long-stalled 414 West 15th Street, which – per their page on the building – “will have an enormous impact on the hospitality world […] because of its unique concept.”
18-22 West 56th won’t be nearly as prominent as the aforementioned project, and given the location, it probably won’t be quite as luxurious. The block of 56th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue is a throwback to the Midtown of yesteryear; though the northern side is dominated by the back-end of 57th Street’s towers, the southern side is composed of dated low-rises. While the ornamentation of the townhomes is nice to look at, they do not belong in 21st-century Midtown Manhattan, which needs to compete on a global scale – incorporating the historic facades would be nice, but in reality, the block should be transformed into new hotels or office space, and 18-22 West 56th will be an important step in this direction.
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