Located in NoHo near the Public Theatre, and New York University, the site has been a parking lot for the past 30 years. The owner, a developer of residential properties, had been considering applying for a change in the lot's M1-5 zoning to one that would permit multifamily housing when he was approached by Lynette Tulkoff, director of investment sales for D.G. Hart. When he agreed to dispose of the site instead, she contacted Born, who owns the Hotel Wellington and is developing the Chambers Hotel on 56th Street with partner Ira Dracker.

He, in turn, partnered with Ian Schrager of Studio 54 fame who has developed the Paramount, Morgans and Royalton hotels here in addition to the Mondrian in Los Angeles and St. Martins Lane in London among several others.

"Ms. Tulkoff's ingenuity have culminated in a truly exciting deal for our firm," says Joseph G. Genovesi, president of D.G. Hart. "This was the result of her having seen an empty lot one day and remembering it from her school days at NYU. But this time she recognized its potential as a location for a boutique hotel."