New York City was founded in 1624, but Hudson Yards, a mixed-use neighborhood on the far west side of the city that stretches from West 30th to West 34th Streets and runs between 10th and 12th Avenues, is a more recent addition.
Opened to the public in 2019, like the rest of the city, the vicinity doesn’t stay static.
One of the neighborhood’s most important additions was 35 Hudson Yards—a sprawling, 92-story skyscraper, which, like many other buildings in New York, is one of the tallest buildings in the U.S. Owned by Related Companies, whose founder, Stephen Ross, also owns the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, and Oxford Properties, the mixed-use building includes office space and retail space and more than 100 private residences on its top floors.
Floors 24 to 38 contain one of the preeeminent luxury hotels in the U.S., the 212-room Equinox Hotel, which was realized as an extension of the widely popular Equinox Fitness Clubs, which has more than 100 locations worldwide and where members pay as much as $400 per month to enjoy personalized training, best-in-class equipment, sauna and steam room and other spa-like services.
Equinox Hotel New York offers similar, including a 5,574-square-meter Equinox Fitness Club with an exclusive “E by Equinox” area; a full-service spa; indoor and outdoor saltwater pools; and in-room services such as on-demand IV vitamin drips. Its Electric Lemon restaurant on the 24th floor maintains 4 stars on Google reviews. Rooms at the hotel are, unsurprisingly, pricey, easily reaching more than $1,000 per night depending on time of stay.
Guestrooms feature such wellness and recharge amenities as light and sound insulation and bedding made exclusively from natural materials, such as horsehair and seaweed. There are also rooms featuring the Sleep Lab, developed in collaboration with sleep scientists, that support high-quality sleep with cold water and steam showers, aromatherapy and more.
After more than five years of ownership, it was no secret that Related and Oxford were looking to offload the hotel. They’ve now accomplished it. Mori Trust, a Tokyo-based real estate company, has acquired the first 38 floors of 35 Hudson Yards, inclusive of the hotel, through it U.S. subsidiary, Mori America, for a reported $541 million. It marks Mori Trust’s 12th real estate investment in the U.S. and its third in Manhattan. Mori also has an ownership interest in 245 Park Avenue, which it aquired in 2023 from SL Green. In November 2024, Mori bought an 11% stake in One Vanderbilt from SL Green in a deal that valued that building at $4.7 billion, as reported by Commercial Observer.
“We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Equinox Hotel, a luxury lifestyle hotel, and 35 Hudson Yards, featuring high-quality office space, in Manhattan, New York, the cultural and economic center of the U.S.A.,” said Miwako Date, president and CEO of Mori Trust.
Date is the daughter of Mori Trust Chairman Akira Mori.
“Within Japan, we focus not only on owning and operating diverse office buildings but also on developing and operating hotels in collaboration with foreign luxury brands. Acquiring high-quality properties overseas, such as 35 Hudson Yards, contributes to the stability and sustainability of our asset portfolio and will drive further growth in the future,” she added.
Mori’s acquisition totals approximately 490,000 square feet of the 1.095 million-square-foot building.
Other Mori investments in the U.S. include office buildings in Boston and Washington, D.C.
In March 2024, Equinox secured approximately $1.8 billion in new capital to refinance maturing loans, as well as to fund general corporate purposes and growth including new clubs.
This week, Equinox Hotels announced its expansion into the Caribbean with Equinox Resort Anguilla Port Nimara. The development will be located at the South West End of Anguilla, within the privately owned Port Nimara area, between the Cap Juluca and Altamer estates. The resort and marina complex will include 62 rooms, 18 oceanfront villas, 18 upland villas and 35 branded residences.
