Gene Kaufman Architect Receives Approval for Two-Hotel Project in NYC

NEW YORK CITY — Gene Kaufman Architect (GKA) has received design approval from the NYC Department of Buildings for a Marriott and Residence Inn at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. In addition, The Lam Group has asked GKA to take over work on a Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn already under construction at 215 Pearl St. Together, the projects offer 870 rooms and represent 424,000 square feet of hotel space. The 540-room, 270,000-square-foot Marriott-and-Residence Inn at JFK Airport is being designed for Soundview Real Estate Partners and Chartwell Hospitality. The dual hotel property, expected to break ground later this year, will have 4,000 square feet of lounge and bar space and more than 4,000 square feet of meeting space. It will also have an office center, a fitness center and parking. Construction is already underway on GKA’s second dual-hotel project, a 330-room, 170,000-square-foot Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn at 215 Pearl St., which is expected to open in 2018. The Lam Group asked GKA to oversee the final design of the building created by the previous architects Nobutaka Ashihara, and to design the interiors for both the hotel’s public spaces and its guest rooms.