Emmitt Smith's Harlem Hotel Plan Gets City Support

Football Hall of Famer and Dancing With The Stars champion Emmitt Smith will be trying his hand at Manhattan real estate: The Wall Street Journal reports that the New York City Capital Resource Corp has approved his and other investors' plan to ask for almost $20 million in tax-exempt federal financing to build a $80 million luxury hotel and retail space at 125th Street and Lenox Avenue.

Last week, the WSJ dropped the news that Smith's ESmith Legacy group was looking to develop the lot, "Plans call for ground- and second-floor retail space that will include a Whole Foods. The majority of the third and fourth floors are slotted for a new YMCA and a cultural group." The NYC Economic Development Corporation's spokesman David Lombino said, "This project would transform a long-vacant site in a vibrant commercial corridor into much-needed hotel and retail space, along with amenities for the community, creating hundreds of permanent and construction jobs."

However, there's some wariness: Rep. Charles Rangel said, "I've been brokenhearted more than these things have come to reality. Bottom line, if it creates jobs, they will have my full attention." There is still a hearing and formal board vote in in the next months; the WSJ adds, "To receive the financing, construction must begin by year's end."

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By Jen Chung in News on May 5, 2010 10:25 AM

Comments [rss]

MrCholly

Wanna give Magic some competition in Harlem. I think that's great.Good Luck Mr. Smith

horseplay

No, there is a big difference. Magic Johnson gave to the community (movie theater and jobs). Mr Smith, is is planning to take advantage of what's already in motion in Harlem. With the city turning Harlem into a tourist attraction, and creating gentrification by kicking out long time residents and buisnesses by putting up big luxury condos, luxury hotels ect ect. And ofcourse, using the classic bullshit (creating jobs) scam to win approval, in which residents know will never materialize, nor will they benefit from

Bloomberg and Developers: Let us beautify your community, put up highrise luxury condos, luxury hotels, destroy the culture in your neiborhood and turn it into a stale and bland environment that you don't feel comfortable in, let alone, can no longer afford to live in. But it'll create jobs.... Just not for you

Powerhugs

How exactly is building a hotel with private investor funds with a retail store like Whole Foods destroying the culture in Harlem...Is Harlem culture about looking at a boarded up building or a vacant lot that the city gets now tax revenue of? I don't think so and if a retail store like Whole Foods it will provide some jobs not thousands but it will service the community...You sound like you are just afraid of change...

horseplay

Affraid of change? Change is good when the "change" is good. How is putting up a luxury hotel on Lenox Ave gonna help the residents who live there? You've mentioned that you been to that area and you've seen poor conditions of a lot of the tenement buildings. You meen to tell me that when you looked around, you thought to yourself, (wow, i think a nice big luxury hotel would turn this place around for the better and benefit this community a great deal). Seriously? So, about those disgusting buildings you mentioned, your saying the luxury hotel will take care that. Rite?

whitecastlerock

Haha a tourist attraction? You don't get up there much do you? Or are you one of these disenfranchised renters who hates the notion that some old dumpy burned out tenement is torn down and a new building takes its place. Do me a favor, take the 3 train to the last stop, 148th street Lenox Terminal. Walk around there. Write back with all of the tourist attractions you see up there. Most of the time you make sense-but there are some mean streets up in Harlem that sure as hell don't resemble Disneyland. if anything, you should be disgusted by the conditions of the buildings around that way...