Brooklyn To Add Downtown Availability

New York City's third-largest central business district, downtown Brooklyn, is set to see seven hotels and more than 2,000 rooms developed in the next two years, offering buyers meeting space opportunities and potentially more affordable rates, and hoteliers an appealing alternative to costly and space-constrained Manhattan.

While the 2,000 rooms NYC & Co., the city's tourism and marketing arm, expects are "a drop in the bucket" compared to the 15,000 planned in Manhattan during the next few years, said John Fox, senior vice president of PKF Consulting in New York, downtown Brooklyn's hotel growth has paralleled that of the island.

"It's classic supply and demand," he said. "For a long time, all the development happened in Manhattan, and demand for rooms was through the roof, so one of the drivers here is that folks can build cheaper and can operate cheaper."

Buyers also can find savings downtown, an area defined by Tillary St. to the north, Ashland Place to the east, Schermerhorn St. to the south and Court St. to the west, based on guidelines set by the New York City Department of City Planning. "Surrounding Tri-State area hotels are great options from a cost point of view. I would hope Brooklyn would be in that aggressive price point," said Cynthia Shumate, director of travel services at Estée Lauder Cos. in New York and a New York City Business Travel Association board member.

Using hotels in downtown Brooklyn, which enjoys a close proximity to Wall St., also can be helpful in offsetting demand for rooms in Manhattan, Shumate noted.

"Competition for the remaining hotel rooms that we have has recently become more of a challenge because of the increase in tourism," Shumate said, adding, "Currently, there doesn't seem to be enough hotel rooms in downtown Manhattan, so to have an overflow is a great idea."

Though several recently opened properties, like the boutique Hotel Le Bleu, which opened last November, and the 10-year-old New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, which recently added 280 rooms and 2,000 square feet of meeting space, are considered upper-tier, new hotels in the area mostly fall into the midprice category. "It's delineating away from boutique and luxury, which is what a lot of the proposed properties are in Manhattan," Fox said. Examples include a Comfort Inn, which opened last May, and the Cambria Suites Brooklyn Bridge, opening in late 2009, as will a Homewood Suites by Hilton.

One of downtown Brooklyn's largest new builds is set to open later this year: the adjoining Sheraton Hotel and Aloft Hotel. Together, the two properties will offer 500 rooms, meeting space, restaurants, a swimming pool and an open terrace. The Aloft will be the first of Starwood's latest and more budget-friendly brand to open in New York. The company has said rates at Aloft properties will start at $125.

"Hotel Le Bleu really was the hotel that started getting the Brooklyn hotel scene on the map," said Christopher Heywood, vice president of tourism public relations for NYC & Co. "The idea of a boutique hotel there really started to create a lot of attention for the area." PKF's Fox added. "It also is an acknowledgement that certain areas of Brooklyn are coming into their own."

Yet, as much as these hotels may provide more favorable pricing in the most expensive U.S. city for business travel, the location is a possible detraction. "There might be a learning curve in the neighborhoods as to which neighborhoods would support a corporate ambiance," Shumate said. "When you put people over there, it's not only the hotel, it's also about food and transportation. Can you get a cab standing out on the street in Brooklyn? If you're coming in from outside the Tri-State area, do those travelers feel comfortable jumping on the subway? Not likely."

Fox agreed. "It's an appeal for the price-conscious traveler who is willing to navigate the subways or taxis, as most of these hotels are pretty much right off the bridge," he said. "It will appeal to business travelers, but probably disproportionately to leisure travelers."

Shumate is most interested in the resulting meeting-space developments in the area, which could be a "newfound benefit" for New York-based companies. "It's offsite enough that if these hotels have retreat-like environments, they could be a great solution," she said. "There you could capture a significant savings on travel, be fairly close to home and avoid additional overnights."