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High-Tech Boutique Hotel Coming to West 38th Street

By Mathew Katz | February 26, 2014 8:53am
  The Aloft New York Midtown Hotel is set to open in 2016.
Aloft New York Hotel Coming to Midtown
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MIDTOWN — A 175-room boutique hotel is coming to West 38th Street, featuring a rooftop bar and high-tech rooms that can be opened with your smartphone instead of a key.

The 27-story Aloft New York Midtown Hotel at 25 W. 38th St., by Starwood Hotels, will open in the fall of 2016 and will also include a restaurant and lounge, officials announced this week while releasing new renderings of the project.

The hotel's developer, Morris Moinian's Fortuna Realty Group, bought the building in 2012 for a reported $12 million. The spot has been emptied of all tenants save one, the Cuban restaurant Havana NY, which won a lawsuit last year to remain open in its current spot at the base of the building.

Fortuna had sued Havana NY in the New York State Supreme Court last October, claiming that the restaurant's refusal to move out delayed the development of the hotel and cost Moinian more than $10 million.

The restaurant, a fixture on the block since the 1990s, said in court documents that its lease allows it to stay in the building until 2019. A judge agreed, ruling that the restaurant could stay in its current home, documents show.

Staff at the restaurant declined to comment on the lawsuit. 

Starwood and Fortuna are moving forward with the hotel despite losing the suit, unveiling new renderings of the project this week and announcing on Starwood's website that the 72,000-square-foot hotel will open in October 2016. 

Fortuna has brought several other hotels to the city, including the Indigo Chelsea. The Aloft chain already has locations in Harlem and Brooklyn, with another set to open in Long Island City in 2015. 

Fortuna and Starwood did not respond to requests for comment.