New Hotels in the Works - Turks and Caicos and Baltimore

Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay

The Vienna-based O Property Collection will break ground late this year on the Mandarin Oriental Dellis Cay, a $1 billion private island development in the Turks and Caicos, 20 minutes by boat from Providenciales.

The first phase of the project on the southwestern shore of the previously uninhabited 2.24-square-mile Dellis Cay will cover 35 acres and will include the 120-room Mandarin Oriental beachfront hotel, private villas and residences, a marina with 110 boat slips and a 22,000-square-foot spa, designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, which will be built over a lake.

The grand opening of the first phase is scheduled for the fall of 2009.

Less than a third of the 560-acre island is open to development; the rest of the island is set aside as a mangrove reserve.

Owners of the residences — 24 one- to four-bedroom units in the hotel building, 65 one-to-three-bedroom units in nine other buildings and 17 separate villas — have the option of placing their properties in a rental program.

The entire development will be divided into seven lifestyle zones, each designed by a different architect.

Cem Kinay, CEO and chairman of OPC, said that “although each property development will be different, all will bear the marks of the OPC signature brand — timeless architecture, sleek design, a fit with the natural surroundings and top amenities and services.”

Hotel Monaco Baltimore

A Philadelphia developer who paid $20 million for a century-old landmark in downtown Baltimore plans to open it as a Hotel Monaco in 2009 after $60 million in renovations. Baltimore and Charles Associates LLC sold the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Co. headquarters to ARCWheeler yesterday, ARCWheeler officials said. The 208-room boutique hotel will take up the top seven floors and be operated by Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group, according to ARCWheeler. The company also plans to renovate four floors of office space, add a day spa and restaurant and restore the marble lobby. ARCWheeler partner John Voneiff said the hotel will help in the downtown’s revitalization efforts.