$100,000 per Month
New York City zoning laws that distinguish transient hotels from non-transient apartment hotels and residences were created as part of an effort to regulate home-sharing platforms such as Airbnb, and are taken seriously by city officials. If Fasano intends to do business as a traditional hotel, renting its rooms nightly, New York-based real estate attorney Pierre Debbas says: “They’d be looking at substantial fines or penalties—and could potentially be shut down.”
Debbas calls Fasano’s approach “unorthodox, at best.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he says, “but perhaps they’re testing out the waters and proving viability before going through the timely and costly process of changing the certificate of occupancy.” Fasano chairman Neto declined to comment on whether the strategy is to gauge the viability of making its new outpost a super high-end hotel, but added that the company is not pursuing rezoning at this time.
Prices are listed “by request” online. Pressed for a figure, Fasano reps eventually quoted Bloomberg a soft opening rate of $100,000 a month for a duplex.
That same eye-watering price can buy you monthly rights to a furnished five-bedroom penthouse in Chelsea with full concierge and floristry service—and budget to spare. It doesn’t even cost six figures to get a sprawling top-floor unit a few blocks further up Fifth with a wraparound terrace and personal sauna.
For what it’s worth, the rooms are sumptuous. The duplexes make for beautiful three-bedroom apartments of approximately 3,600 square-feet and even have a washer/dryer.
Ten-foot walls are sheathed in taupe Loro Piana cashmere, oak floors feature a wide herringbone detail, and the furnishings—which vary from room to room and include midcentury pieces from owner Rogerio Fasano’s personal collection—are mostly made of wood as a subtle nod to the Amazon region. West-facing rooms have views into the Central Park Zoo (you can view the sea lions while sipping coffee) while eastern exposures mostly peer onto tony Upper East side streets. (A few overlook a modest, as-of-yet lackluster courtyard.)
Still, none of the clubhouse suites are designed as long-term residences. Each is a single room. Kitchenettes include a minibar fridge with little space to deposit personal purchases; a two-burner electric stove means guests could conceivably make quick meals and enjoy them on a coffee table or in bed. Without even a door to separate sleeping from the sitting area, the larger ones are glorified studios; the smaller ones are your typical New York hotel room, with little space to lay out your luggage.
Beyond the 11 suites at Fasano Fifth Avenue, there’s not much to see. On the fifth floor, a fitness center with two treadmills and a stationery bike connects to a small outdoor terrace where Natal, the general manager, intends to add a gazebo for outdoor spa treatments. And downstairs, the all-day dining concept Baretto New York—where the menu will skew Italian—offers seven lounge-like tables hidden behind an inconspicuous, jet-black door. A private owner’s triplex fills the top floors.
“The [amount of] space will be our big challenge,” says Natal, who is accustomed to large resorts. She says she will “work magic,” perhaps removing a single table at Baretto to create space for live music, and adding a few tables to an as-yet-unused outdoor space off the dining room. (Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the restaurant will not open until at least May.)
It’s a confusing business plan, given the hospitality and private club landscape in New York.
Never mind the other problem: The $150 million new-build project is finished and ready to go, but lacking in members to fill it.