The new $73 million Westin Hotel that opened last week is a triumph for local artists. Across the street from Cleveland’s new Convention Center, the project is a joint venture of Optima Ventures of Miami, FL; and, Sage Hospitality of Denver, CO.
The developers have an extraordinary commitment to local art. Fortunately, my firm, The Project Group, was part of a team retained by the developer to procure and install over 1,500 pieces of art by local artists. Other teammembers included Greg Peckham, Lora DiFranco and Erin Guido of LAND studio in Ohio City; and, Brian Jasinski of Epstein Design Partners near Shaker Square.
The exterior of the hotel features a 30-foot tall mural of the Cuyahoga River Valley — a work of public art by SarahKabot that can be enjoyed by both visitors and passersby. At nite, the stainless steel skin of the building is washed in a stunning show of color provided by a state-of-the-art array of LED lighting.
Scattered throughout the hotel are more than 1,500 works by local artists, including Liz Maugans, Michael Loderstedt, Dana Oldfather, Jen Craun, Olga Ziemska and Anne Kibbe, to name a few. Sage Hospitality worked with our team to select and feature artists in the lobby, public spaces and 484 guest rooms.
The guest-room art demanded a logistical effort worthy of a computer scientist. Here, 29 original pieces were configured into 18 different sets of work for the 480 regular guest rooms (the 4 penthouse suites received unique treatments).
Each piece was reproduced between 48 and 56 times — so more than 1,500 pieces of artwork are hanging in the 12 different types of guest rooms. As a result, a guest has less than a 1% chance of seeing the artwork if they come and stay for a second visit!
In last week’s FreshWater Cleveland, LAND studio’s Peckham stated that,
“This is kind of an incredible investment for a group from outside of Cleveland to make, and they did it because this was a way to make this project truly local… It generates a tremendous amount of goodwill, but also a true investment in the local arts economy. This project put a job on the table for three local framers for a year. There’s a lot of spinoff effect and benefit of this one small aspect of a $73 million project. It also feels distinctively Cleveland; it’s not something you could find in another city.”
The Plain Dealer reported that early bookings put occupancy in the 60% range — with occupancy expected to reach the high 60s or low 70s as business ramps up and word circulates that the hotel is open. In particular, the Westin is banking on traffic from loyal customers of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts family, which has only one other brand — the Aloft – in downtown Cleveland’s Flats East Bank project.
Marous Brothers Construction was the design/build contractor for the project, with Colum McCartan of New York City the interior designer.
This was one cool project to work on. Do yourself a favor and check it out!
