THE HIGH LINE IS HAPPENING!
WITH MEGA-LUXE BRANDS OPENING NOW—AND MANY MORE ON THE HORIZON—THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT IS HAVING A MAJOR MOMENT.
With mega-luxe brands opening now—and many more on the horizon—the Meatpacking District is having a major moment.
Once a dank, unsavory corner of Manhattan best known for its wholesale butchers, the Meatpacking District began a radical makeover a decade ago to become one of the city’s hottest ’hoods. Now it has the High Line park and a constantly changing array of high-end shops, restaurants, and developments. Here are the newest names to know.
LIVE IT!
Soori (522 W. 29th St.; soorihighlineny.com), a soaring complex by meticulous Singaporean starchitect Soo K. Chan, features a truly show-stopping amenity: enormous private pools in its apartments. Chan believes they help contribute to the Zen feel of the space while also providing a smooth transition between indoors and outdoors. Two- to fivebedroom units start at $3.6 million.
On the horizon: Danish architect Bjarke Ingels is notorious for trippy, gravity-defying creations, and his forthcoming project, The Eleventh (76 11th Ave.), is no different. The spiraling, dueling pair of towers, set to be
completed next year, will feature retail on the ground level, condos with views across both the High Line and the Hudson River, and New York’s first outpost of the ultraluxe Asian hotel chain Six Senses.
EAT IT!
Jason Mendenhall and Robert Ceraso have designed their hipsterish spot The Wild Son (53 Little W. 12th St., 212727-7900; thewildson nyc.com) to be a healthyeating, all-day café (think cauliflower breakfast sandwiches, gluten-free pancakes, and even vegan doughnuts). There’s a range of house-made juices and sodas, while any drink—even the iced coconut latte on tap—can be carbonated to order.
Entrepreneur Jon Bakhshi has revived the hip Japanese spot Megu (355 W. 16th St., 212-885-9400; megu worldwide.com) and relocated it to the 5,000-square-foot basement of the Dream Hotel. The playful food reflects the décor—even the Wagyu beef is waggishly branded with the restaurant’s logo, a canny branding trick for the Instagram era. The cocktails by industry legend Charlotte Voisey are not to be missed.
On the horizon: The carmaker Lexus has opened a series of experiential showrooms across the world as a way of extending the brand’s reach beyond wealthy petrolheads. The NYC branch, Intersect by Lexus (412 W. 14th St.; lexus-int.com/intersect/), is likely to have the biggest impact, thanks to an onsite restaurant, set to open later this year, by none other than Danny Meyer, who will use his extensive culinary connections to book a rotating roster of world-famous guest chefs.
CHARGE IT!
Like Lexus, Samsung considers Samsung 837 (837 Washington St., 844-5776969; samsung.com/ us/837) an experiential space, but the three-story complex is more like a giant playground for overgrown kids, with an amphitheater, digital art installations, and even a selfie station, where visitors can be snapped and projected onto one of the space’s giant screens. The Brooklyn food market Smorgasburg curates the café’s selection of vendors. On the horizon: Restoration Hardware (restorationhardware.com) is furnishing the Meatpacking District with an enormous RH Gallery, which is set to be RH’S largest-ever retail space. (Rumor has it that the luxury home brand is also breaking into the NYC hospitality scene with a new 12-room boutique hotel concept in the area.)
The imminent arrival of Hermès (46-48 Gansevoort St.; hermes.com) is yet another boost to the neighborhood’s luxe credentials; its VIP roof terrace is likely to become one of the hottest velvet-rope situations in town.
THE MEATPACKING DISTRICT’S RADICAL MAKEOVER DURING THE PAST DECADE IS GOING INTO OVERDRIVE IN 2017.