Greenland Group is preparing to open a keystone of its $1 billion, 6-acre Metropolis residential, hotel, and retail complex, the Hotel Indigo Los Angeles Downtown.
The estimated $200 million, 350-room, 18-floor boutique hotel, still under construction, plans to open its doors on March 2.
Owned by the Shanghai-based developer’s Greenland U.S.A. subsidiary, the hotel is one of four towers central to Metropolis. It is part of a planned collection of sky parks, pools, and condos at the development.
The Gensler-designed hotel, at 899 Francisco St., is the second major element to be completed. One residential tower is finished, with 75 percent of its units sold, according to the Metropolis website. Two other residential buildings are under construction.
A Greenland spokeswoman said the company doesn’t have a confirmed completion date for the entire project, but had previously set it for July of next year.
Bruce Curry, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, said nightly room rates are expected to range from the low $200s to the low $300s, with prices higher at peak travel periods.
“I’m not sure if there are any other cities that have this much development in the downtown area anywhere in the U.S.,” said Alan Reay, president of Irvine hotel marketing company Atlas Hospitality Group, who toured the project during a recent hotel investment summit downtown. “If the question is whether the business is going to be there, I think this weekend was an example. It was very hard to find anything less than $400 or $500 a night.”
Indigo enters a crowded field of new downtown hotels that includes the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, which has 900 rooms inside the 73-story Wilshire Grand Tower and is slated to open this spring.
Curry said demand is high for hotel accommodations near the busy Los Angeles Convention Center and called the city one of the hottest-performing locations in the past five years.
Besides business travelers attending Convention Center events, Curry said the hotel might service tourists and visitors in town for the Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater and Grammy Awards at Staples Center.
Indigo is a boutique brand of InterContinental Hotels Group that targets the young, hip traveler, Curry said. More than 70 Indigo properties are either open or in the process of being developed worldwide.
– Diane Haithman
