ian schrager

New luxury lifestyle hotel brand EDITION is set to make its European debut in Istanbul in April, hot on the heels of the opening of the brand's first property on Oahu, Waikiki EDITION, last October.

But if you're a fan of the Hawaii property, don't expect a carbon copy, at least in terms of aesthetics.

Situated within the city's lively Levent neighborhood, known for its Kanyon mall and impressive skyline, the Istanbul EDITION will be an urban resort offering a mix of Eastern and Western influences, the signature creative direction of Ian Schrager and the high-touch service of Marriott.

The starting point? A tall, domed lobby; a fundamental mark of traditional Ottoman style realized here with a modern twist. Eastern touches are present throughout: walls, ceilings and floors are lined with mosaic tiles, a cornerstone of traditional Byzantine architecture, and public spaces are gracefully bejeweled with bronze and gold leaf reminiscent of Ottoman style in all of its splendor. Traditional hanging lamps are featured in the guest rooms while Gold Bar's VIP seating area has taken its inspiration from traditional Turkish Tea Rooms. Leather tufted ottomans are surrounded by u-shaped seating influenced by old Bosphorus villas that featured such rooms for socializing, relaxing and smoking. The long-standing ritual of the Hammam is clearly reflected in the unparalleled spa offerings.

Hotelier extraordinaire Ian Schrager has a new project. Schrager has sold his interest in the Gramercy Park Hotel and has announced his latest company, Schrager Hotels which will create two new hotel brands.

Schrager said of the sale: "I received an offer that was just too good to refuse. However, it is a bittersweet moment as well. I put 110% into that hotel as I do with all of my projects, but it was time to move on and seek new challenges." Schrager, who is at least mostly responsible for the proliferation of boutique hotels in the past couple of decades, plans to create two separate brands, one luxury lifestyle brand and one that is stylish but less expensive. The first hotel under one of these new brands will open in Chicago in September 2011, the $25 million renovation of the Ambassador East hotel. Schrager is also continuing to work on the Edition hotel brand that he launched with Marriott International which recently opened its first hotel on Oahu.

Schrager plans to have his new hotels in cities such as, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, London, Paris, Barcelona, Istanbul, Mexico City, Rio De Janiero, and other cities in Europe, Asia, China, India and South America.

Some of the items up for auction at Wright Auction House in Chicago on October 6 might make potential buyers of a certain age nostalgic for their New York City youth. When the pieces were designed by Philippe Starck for Ian Schrager for the Paramount and Royalton boutique hotels in Midtown Manhattan were first unveiled over a decade ago they were like nothing that the hotel industry had ever seen before. Now Starck's avant-garde design prototypes can seem almost tame. Almost. They still have a whimsical appeal that holds up. Could Starck be a classic? The bar stools shown above were originally designed for the Royalton Hotel and are estimated to sell for $2,000–3,000. The NY Times talked with Richard Wright, the auction house owner, who said that Starck hasn't come a collector's favorite because he's so ubiquitous but this is the chance to buy the originals that spawned a furniture army or at least a few glamorous hotel nights.

From AOL Real Estate:
Most Underwater Cities/Cities With the Most Debt
Save These Old Homes for Less Than $1

From the WSJ's Private Properties:
--The 4.7-acre estate of American novelist William Styron is on the market in Roxbury, Connecticut. We'll check it out later as our estate of the day.
--Psychiatrist and television personality Dr. Daniel G. Amen has cut the asking price of his Newport Beach, California house, shown above, to $3.79 million. Dr. Amen bought the 6,000-square-foot home in 2005 for $2.85 million. The listing is here.
--Former Lehman chief Dick Fuld quietly put his 6,200-square-foot co-op at 640 Park Avenue on the market for $32 million earlier this week but by the end of the week he changed his mind and decided not to sell.

From The Telegraph:
--Phil Neville, the former England soccer player, has sold his Versace-themed home in Lancashire for nearly £1.5 million less than the initial asking price. A photo gallery is here.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--via NY Mag Sally Quinn and Ben Bradlee have put Grey Gardens, their famous East Hampton mansion for rent this summer. The six-bedroom house is available from August 28 to Labor Day for $30,000.
--Andy Warhol muse Jane Holzer sold her apartment at 23 East 74th Street for $14.1 million to Wear Me Apparel president Jason Rabin and his wife Nicole. The apartment was originally listed for $22.5 million last year.
--Gossip Girl co–executive producer Joshua Safran has put his one-bedroom loft at 77 White Street on the market for $2.295 million. The listing is here.
--via NY Mag, actress Emily Mortimer and her husband, Alessandro Nivola, have paid $980,000 for a four-bedroom farmhouse in Amagansett.
--Guy Metcalfe, co-head of Morgan Stanley's real estate investment banking group, has sold his second-floor apartment at 15 Central Park West, which he purchased for $9.35 million in October. He had first re-listed for $16.5 million but eventually settled for $11 million.
--via Curbed, a three-story townhouse that belonged to the late activist Jane Jacobs is on the market for $3.5 million. The listing is here.
--Two Trees Farm, the 115-acre Bridgehampton estate with two houses, three barns, two polo fields, two indoor riding arenas, a pool and a tennis court has had a $20 million, down to $75 million for the entire estate or $20 million for the Gin Lane house by itself.
--Doug Griebel, co-founder and president of the Rosa Mexicano restaurant chain, paid $1.9 million for an apartment at The Bromley.
--Marc Juris, executive vice president and general manager of truTV has paid $2.8 million for a condo at 133 West 22nd Street.
David Godbout, a managing partner at Ceres Realty Fund, has put his loft at 139 West 19th Street on the market for $3.995 million. The listing is here.
--Lee Neibart, CEO of Apollo's AREA Property Partners, has gone into contract to sell his 16th-floor condo at 15 Central Park West. The three-bedroom apartment, which Neibart and his wife Joyce bought for $7 million in January was listed at $8.2 million.
--Carlos Alejandro Pérez Dávila, an heir to one of the richest families in Latin America sold his four-story townhouse at 176 East 75th Street. The 5,800-square-foot mansion, which had been listed for $10.9 million, was purchased by Keith Meister, the son of tycoon Robert Meister, for $8.6 million.
--Bella Sapir, the ex-wife of billionaire Tamir Sapir has sold the penthouse at 250 East 53rd Street that she bought for $8.895 million in November 2008 for $10.5 million.
--Columbia Law professor Hans Smit has lowered the price of his 12,000-square-foot townhouse at 351 Riverside Drive. It first hit the market for $31 million back in 2006. The mansion, which Smit bought for just $325,000 back in 1979, is now listed for $25 million. The listing is here.

From The Real Estalker:
--Former Lehman exec Joseph Gregory has reduced the price on his Hamptons home to $27.9 million. It was listed at $32.5 million when it was our estate of the day last September.
--Ben Stiller may be getting ready to put his Los Angeles home on the market with a price around $12 million.
Real estate developer Robert Bisno has sold a six-acre plot in Beverly Hills for $8.25 million. The buyer is believed to be Mark Wahlberg.
--Producer Gary Barber has paid $17,350,613 for an oceanfront compound in LA Jolla, California.


From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--Reality TV show daughters Vanessa and Angela Simmons plan to live in and film their spinoff, 'Daddy's Girls,' in a Beverly Hills Post Office-area house they are renting for about $10,000 a month.
--The Hollywood Hills compound of biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli has sold for $3.1 million.
--A Spanish villa in Los Angeles that movie legends Carole Lombard and William Powell once called home has been listed at $1.395 million. The listing is here.
--Scary Movie writer Aaron Seltzer has put his Studio City home on the market, we'll look at this one as an estate of the day on Monday.

Around six months ago, lifestyle entrepreneur Ian Schrager and hotel magnate Bill Marriott announced that they would be collaborating on a hotel brand. Now we've got a few more details. Following the popular trend of one-word rather bland names for chains, here comes "Edition." The pair plans to eventually have more than 100 Edition hotels in markets around the globe. The first nine hotels are slated for Paris, Madrid, Costa Rica, Miami, Washington, Chicago and Scottsdale, Ariz. and two in Los Angeles. The hotels will all have 150 to 200 rooms and each will have an individual style. Th partners have also promised to be environmentally responsible. Schrager will be the mastermind behind the concept, design, marketing, branding and food and beverages while Marriott will do the grunt work of development and operations.