New York’s famed Plaza is now in its soft-opening stage of what will be a 'new’ hotel, with 282 keys, of which 152 are condo-owned letting rooms. The Plaza is owned by Elad Properties, New York and Tel Aviv, and run by Chairman Yitzhak Tshuva and President Miki Naftali, who are now looking for opportunities to put The Plaza name in other key cities. Elad already has the former Frontier in Las Vegas and is looking for sites in Singapore, Russia and other countries in Eastern Europe.

This is the new era of mega developments. In Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Logan International Hotels & Resorts Development Co. is masterminding a mammoth project, Cabo San Cristobal Resort, that will eventually have at least nine resorts, with hundreds of residential villas, Greg Norman—and other—golf, a marina and a Formula One-standard race track (plus a private airport terminal). The first stage of Cabo San Cristobal Resort will, says COO Andres Araya, be on 1,200 acres (405 ha) of land, and will include a Park Hyatt, a Raffles resort and a Shangri-La resort. The subsequent resort developments have yet to be signed. Headquartered in London, the company is headed by Managing Director Albert Maes.

Lake Balaton, Europe’s largest lake, in southwest Hungary, is the site of another mega-development. Led by Gellért Jászai, chairman of recently formed SCD Group in Hungary, the 712-acre (288-ha) site is being considered for no fewer than 21 hotels and other projects. Jászai has brought in as partners in the €450 million development Quinlan Private Golub, the Hungarian division of Quinlan Private, based in Dublin.

Are we going to see expansion of yet more retail into the hotel industry? Already such fashion brands as Bulgari and Versace have opened hotels, with Rezidor launching its first Missoni this year. Designer Tom Ford said categorically, on November 29 in Moscow, that he is not going into hotels. Interestingly, Russia’s largest luxury fashion retailers, Mercury Corp., Moscow, headed by CEO Leonid Friedland and General Manager Alexander Reebok, opens its own hotel shortly, the Barvikha at Luxury Village in the Odintsovsko region outside Moscow. The 65-room hotel is designed by Antonio Citterio, who also has done the two already-open Bulgaris in Bali and Milan.

Lagos, Nigeria, has not seen much big-property development lately. Now local cashew nuts-to-shipping conglomerate Milan Industries Ltd., chaired by Ramesh Valechha, has announced a 350-key InterContinental Lagos on Victoria Island. Funding is coming from Skye Bank, which also underwrote Le Méridien Ogeyi Place in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

Dubai continues to astound. One&Only Resorts, a division of Kerzner International, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been operating One&Only Royal Mirage, with three integral resorts, since 1999. Now General Manager Olivier Louis is working on two further resorts, both on reclaimed land. There will be a One&Only on The Palm and one on The World island cluster.

Dubai-based Tiara Hotels & Resorts is, meanwhile, already at construction stage on two projects in that Emirate. Now, says Chief Executive Officer Danny Haddad—a Lebanese investment banker who has come into the lodging sector with commendable confidence—the company wants to expand, fast. He is looking at Europe, specifically London, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Vienna. In Asia he is attracted by Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore. He wants locations and space that will allow anything up to 400 rooms and suites, and he is not looking for equity partners.

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