A Holiday Inn is set to open this summer at 99 Washington St., crossing at Rector St. in the Financial District. The 50-story building holds nearly 500 rooms and is the tallest Holiday Inn in Manhattan at 467 feet, according to Gregory Marshall, executive project manager at Cava Construction and Development, Inc.
McSam Downtown L.L.C. is the development company in charge of the project under hotelier Sam Chang.
Chang’s numerous Downtown Manhattan projects have met opposition in the past and this one is no different — a local resident and restaurant opposed the development in its early stages, according to Community Board 1 staff. The project is almost at completion now despite the reported opposition.
The Holiday Inn at 99 Washington St.
The construction project includes the adjacent building at 103 Washington St., which houses a restaurant that will service the hotel. This historic building constructed in 1925 in its Neo-Gothic architecture still reads “St. George’s Church,” representing the Syrian Catholic churchgoers as part of the bigger Syrian quarter that once consumed Washington St. in the early 1900s. Joe Scelzo, head superintendent of construction, said the building is still in the process of being purchased.
“The buildings are being interconnected,” Marshall confirmed. The full-service restaurant will provide room service to guests at the inn. It hosts a bar with American bistro on the first floor while the second floor is specifically for Pan Asian food, along with a cozy fireplace.
Guorong Du, 42, co-manager of the restaurant soon to be named St. George’s Tavern, said Asian food is in demand. “In this area, we don’t have a lot of Chinese and Asian food.”
While the restaurant’s interior is complete, the construction of the inn continues. “We’re looking to have the T.C.O. [temporary certificate of occupancy]—which is — to be finished by Aug. 31,” Scelzo said.
— Annum Khan
