[Peace-discuss] Gays' Resort, YES! Muslim Mosque, NO!

[Jenifer Cartwright]

Better than Muslims?? Or hasn't the Christian Right and everybody else opposed to the new NYC Mosque noticed this yet... Clearly there are huge corporate interests (and research firms) that stand to benefit from this -- prayer, etc just doesn't bring in those big bucks: Muslims just don't spend $$ on this kinda fluff stuff...http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/realestate/commercial/18reisner.html
The yellow highlighting (below) is mine... --Jenifer
A Resort for Gays Rises in ManhattanBy BETH GREENFIELDPublished: August 17, 2010


Six years ago, after Ian Simpson Reisner, a developer in New York, spent a few pleasurable nights at the Axel Hotel Barcelona — part of a small chain of upscale hotels aimed at gay visitors — he was struck with an idea.Enlarge This ImageNicole Bengiveno/The New York TimesIan S. Reisner, left, one of the developers, explaining the eventual layout of the Out New York Urban Resort on West 42nd Street.
Enlarge This Image
“I called them up and said, ‘We have to bring this to New York,’ ” Mr. Reisner, a managing partner ofParkview Developers, said of the Axel’s owners. “They said, ‘Find a location and we’ll talk.’ ”After a brief search, he found a cavernous, long-vacant space at the western end of 42nd Street that was owned by the management company BD Hotels. Now, after securing a lease, clearing licensing hurdles, starting a buzz in the gay press and perfecting architectural plans by Paul Dominguez of Parkview, the Out NYC Urban Resort — what Mr. Reisner calls a “supersize” version of his original plan — is set to open in stages starting early next year. The $30 million, 90,000-square-foot complex is to have restaurants and bars, a spa, a reception hall, retail stores and a huge seven-nights-a-week dance club, along with a 127-room Axel Hotel.Out NYC is one of a number of gay-themed entertainment complexes recently opened or planned.
 “These places provide a concentrated feeling of community,” said Thomas Roth, president of Community Marketing, a company in San Francisco that specializes in gay and lesbian market research. “Especially for the many people who don’t otherwise have the opportunity to be the majority.”Nightlife complexes like the Dunes Resort in Saugatuck, Mich., and the Crown & Anchor in Provincetown, Mass., have long been staples of gay resort towns. But the newer versions are appearing in more urban areas, with appropriately urban amenities. Besides Barcelona, Axel also has hotels, billed as “heterofriendly,” in Buenos Aires and Berlin.A complex called the Manor opened in 2009 near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., offering an array of nightlife options and restaurants (but no accommodations). And other big projects aimed at gay customers are on the horizon, including a 1,000-room hotel and party palace adjacent to the Strip in Las Vegas.At a time when acceptance
 of gay people seems to be increasing, such resorts might seem superfluous. But Mr. Roth said his company’s research indicated a strong interest in them.“We can’t assume there is a ‘gay customer’ anymore,” he said. There is a lot of diversity among people who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, he said, and “some want all gay all the time — especially if they’re from, say, Omaha. So something like the Out NYC could be extremely successful.” According to studies by Community Marketing, New York City has long been the No. 1 domestic destination for American gay and lesbian travelers.But while the tourist-crowd potential is certainly not lost on Mr. Reisner (in a not-yet-released promotional video about the property, he said seven million gay tourists visited New York last year), he also said he hoped to attract local residents.“It’s just as much for the community here as it is for people coming to
 visit,” he said. “You can spend an entire day in this place. There’s everything you can imagine.”The complex’s design will be punctuated by details like undulating hallways inspired by the sculptor Richard Serra and functional spaces that wrap around three glassed-in courtyards. Amenities are to include a branch of the Nickel spa, which first opened in Paris; a courtyard lap pool enclosed in a glass atrium; a gym and wellness center; a cafe called Kitchen to be run by the owners of Eatery at 53rd Street and Ninth Avenue; and a reception hall geared toward same-sex weddings and commitment ceremonies as well as corporate events.But the centerpiece may be the 14,000-square-foot XL Dance Bar, to be located in what was originally a 100-car parking garage. It will be operated by a number of gay-nightclub pros, including John Blair and Beto Sutter, who have 25 years of promoting experience at the now-defunct clubs Limelight and Roxy, and who
 owned the original XL in Chelsea before losing their lease several years ago. Joining them will be Tony Fornabaio and Brandon Voss, who currently head up a popular Saturday-night dance party called Club 57.“They think long term,” Mr. Blair said of Mr. Fornabaio and Mr. Voss. “We are thinking long term for the Out NYC and XL. This concept can and most likely will go to other cities. So we need a big, strong team in place that can go beyond New York.”Mr. Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, partners in life as well as business, run Parkview Developers and were creators of the national chain store Watch World (which was sold to Sunglass Hut). Their recent local projects include a luxury condominium building in Hell’s Kitchen called the 505, and a proposed hotel-and-condo tower that would rise alongside the Empire State Building.The hulking property on 42nd Street was originally built as a Travelodge in the 1950s and was later used as a Red Cross
 homeless shelter. It had been vacant for several years when Mr. Reisner approached Richard Born and Ira Drukier of BD Hotels to present his idea. In 2009, Mr. Reisner said, BD Hotels offered a 49-year lease at what he called a “favorable rent,” and Parkview jumped at the chance.“This was a massively underutilized three-story building in the middle of the prime part of Manhattan,” he said. “Only in the great recession of 2009 could you even get your hands on a place like this.”A version of this article appeared in print on August 18, 2010, on page B7 of the New York edition.SIGN IN TO E-MAILPRINTREPRINTSGet the full newspaper experience, and more, delivered to your Mac or PC. Times Reader 2.0: Try it FREE for 2 full weeks.


      
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