Faena Group is rumoured to be gearing up to open a property in New York, replacing Six Senses as hotel operator in the
One High Line mixed-use development.
The change of tack marks the end of Six Senses’ plans to open a flagship property in the Bjarke Ingels-designed building, originally named The Eleventh (XI) and comprising two twisting towers connected by a sky bridge.
First announced in 2016, Six Senses New York was conceived as a wellness oasis in the city, with a rooftop organic farm, however, construction stopped in late 2021 as developer HFZ Capital had insufficient funds to continue.
The property was then sold for US$900m (€887.3m, £750.6m) to Steve Witkoff’s Witkoff Group and Ukrainian billionaire Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, who renamed the property One High Line and announced it will feature retail and private residences, as well as a 137-room hotel and spa.
Faena was co-founded by Blavatnik and designer Alan Faena and Blavatnik has a history of financing Faena projects that goes back to 2000, connecting the dots on the scheme and making it likely the Faena brand will be deployed.
Faena is a maverick hotel group with a reputation for high-end, city-changing properties and is aligned with French hotel giant Accor after the two companies announced a
strategic partnership in 2021 to expand the Faena brand around the globe.
Faena already has locations in Miami and Buenos Aires – both of which include comprehensive wellness amenities – and has another major development underway in Dubai, although details of this have not been released.
Six Senses has removed the planned New York property from its website’s New Openings page. It had been due to open in 2023.
Six Senses currently has 21 hotels, with 33 new
properties under development and has been targeting major cities, with properties due to open in London and Rome, as well as wild locations such as
Svart and
Vana.
It’s thought likely the company will seek alternative locations in New York in order to bring a property to market in the city as part of its growing portfolio of city locations.
