Thursday, June 8, 2017

Report: Hotel Indigo, home to the rooftop bar Mr. Purple, is for sale


[Image via]

The Indigo Hotel, with 294 rooms at 171 Ludlow St. between East Houston and Stanton, is on the market.

The Commercial Observer has the scoop on the property, which first opened in November 2015 via a joint venture between Brack Capital Real Estate and InterContinental Hotels Group (ICG):

The hotel, one source with intimate knowledge of the property said, would likely go for $600,000 per key, or $176.4 million, because it is the flagship Indigo for IHG. Highlights, he noted, are the higher-end finishes and room designs as well as the unobstructed views from all sides of the building.

The hotel includes Mr. Purple, the 15th-floor restaurant and bar, which drew sharp criticism from locals when it was revealed that Adam Purple, aka David Wilkie, the longtime LES activist and community gardener, was the inspiration for the space. (Purple died in September 2015 at age 84.)

The restaurant, operated by the Gerber Group, stuck with the name even after reports surfaced that Purple had served time in prison in the 1960s for sexually absuing his daughters.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] The upscale hotel bar with a pool named for the late environmentalist Adam Purple

[Updated] The Gerber Group responds to criticism over Mr. Purple (23 comments)

As the Hotel Indigo and Mr. Purple continue efforts to be part of the LES neighborhood

Adam Purple's legacy

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Does this mean they are losing money? Did the hotel finally realize that Katz Deli's greasy sidewalks and meat rotting dumpsters was not exactly "high end" enough for their guests? Well Katz is there to stay along with those authentic lower east side smells.

Anonymous said...

Hope they lose their shirt on this sale.

Giovanni said...

First sale: Boutique hotel. Slightly used. Great views of Katzs Deli's smelly dumpsters, the projects on Avenue D, and the Houston St. Horridor. Unique opportunity to own a rooftop bar named after a Lower East Side gardening icon who was later accused of molesting his children. Lots of foot traffic on weekends, with plenty of inebriated people and tinder hookups looking for a hotel room. Other uses include condo conversion, a giant private high-rise mansion, or an NYU Dorm. Serious inquiries and rich suckers only please.

Gojira said...

Tear it down and rebuild the 19th century tenements destroyed to make room for those "higher - end finishes". Bring back some sanity to the neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering if Russ & Daughters ever pulled out from Mr. Purple Lounge. They did serve bagels and smoked salmon. Just wondering. Disgusting if they didn't. Goodbye.

Anonymous said...

It's actually a very lovely hotel and a very nice outdoor space. It's pretty classy for the neighborhood but don't think that's a bad thing...! If you guys can handle Hair of the Dog then you surely can handle people in their 30s looking for a nice drink on a sunny day. Maybe check it out instead of sitting at home behind your computers trolling...

Unknown said...

The ceiling mural by Lee Quinones depicting cultural heroes of LES is worth a visit.

Anonymous said...

"If you guys can handle Hair of the Dog..."

You must be new here.

MJ said...

Good riddance, they're dicks. Parked my bike on the public street pole outside and came back to a nasty note saying "next time we will cut your bike off our pole". I'm a resident, but they think their hipster guests own the neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

Giovanni -

"Unique opportunity to own a rooftop bar named after a Lower East Side gardening icon who was later accused of molesting his children."

No, he was accused AND CONVICTED of sexually assaulting children, was deported from Australia and then got into LES gardening. Those victims still are dealing with that trauma (decades later). We know this because they have said as much.

Anonymous said...

@1:11pm: "pretty classy for the neighborhood"? Are you fucking kidding me? Do you work there as a bartender??

Nobody in their right mind would ever call that place "classy", period! Pretentious & overpriced, yes. Classy, NEVER.

Giovanni said...

@1;11P.M What are you, on Compuserve? Who is sitting behind their computers trolling these days? I'm sitting in the Australian Convicted Pedophile Rooftop Bar drinking handcrafted curated cocktails with my personal mixologist, contemplating a thinkpiece I'm writing for Rolling Stone about a mid-level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom. And if you happen to be walking by right now it's not raining outside, that's just us, a bunch of good-looking classy drunk people pissing off the rooftop onto the unlucky peons and bottom feeders down below, just like Adam Purple would have.

Anonymous said...

Idea for a regular/steady feature on EV Grieve:

Giovanni's mock realtor property descriptions like this classic.

Houston St. Horridor haha.

'Say whenever the spirit moves him?