Kimpton Still Wants New York, Boston Properties

SAN FRANCISCO— Kimpton Hotels is still seeking to get a foothold in the New York and Boston area, Tom LaTour, president/CEO, told HOTEL BUSINESS®. Kimpton has been seeking to enter the two markets but has found it tough to locate a viable site, thanks to heavy competition from other hotel companies, seeking to do the same thing. “Maybe this slowdown will provide us with some opportunities,” said LaTour. Kimpton will soon have a strong presence in the Washington, D.C. market, thanks to a conversion of the city’s historic Tariff Building, set to open this summer, as well as a deal it signed earlier this year to manage four soon-to-be-converted properties owned by REIT LaSalle Hotel Properties. The San Francisco-based company, known as a founder of the boutique hotel concept, in August opens its first property in New Orleans. The Hotel Monaco, New Orleans, is an historic conversion of a former Masonic temple. Kimpton also has plans for a new-build in Cupertino, CA, which sits in the Silicon Valley region. LaTour said that deal came about when a developer seeking to build 500 apartments there was told by city officials he could build only 400, and that the project had to include a hotel. The developer selected Kimpton, which will open the $41 million Cypress Hotel in July 2002. LaTour said the city has great barriers to entry since there is a moratorium on other hotel building. Kimpton, the majority of whose portfolio is in San Francisco, also has plans to convert a warehouse in the Fisherman’s Wharf area of that city, into a 268-room hotel. —Ruthanne Terrero