A new online platform for designers and architects offers sustainable material options, Ace Hotel Group is sold for $85 million, and artist Lucinda Hinojos envisions promotional designs for Super Bowl LVII. All that and more in this week’s Five on Friday.
Ace Hotel Group gets acquired
The exterior of newly opened Ace Hotel Toronto, designed by Shim-Sutcliffe Architects and Atelier Ace; photo by William Jess Laird
Sortis Holdings has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Ace Group International and its management company, Atelier Ace. The $85 million deal is led by Sortis Hospitality partner Kelly Sawdon, who previously served as an Ace Hotel Group partner. The all-cash transaction is slated to close at the end of Q1 2023, writes Hospitality Design. In 2022, the New York-headquartered boutique hotel brand launched Ace Hotel Sydney and Ace Hotel Toronto.
PlasticFree helps designers source environmentally friendly materials
A look at the PlasticFree database
Environmental organization A Plastic Planet has unveiled PlasticFree, a database dedicated to aggregating and sourcing plastic-free material alternatives for the design community. The subscription-based platform further illuminates its mission with in-depth reports on more than 100 plastic alternatives, Dezeen writes. Both a materials library and a design tool, the resource will also present case studies that educate members about how these materials are being used in design projects and production across five continents. Pinterest-style mood boards are available to stoke creativity as well. PlasticFree debuts as part of A Plastic Planet’s mission to “help designers and business leaders eradicate one trillion pieces of plastic waste from the global economy by 2025.”
NFL spotlights Chicana artist Lucinda Hinojos
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Arizona-based Chicana artist Lucinda Hinojos has been tapped by the NFL to create key artwork for Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona next month. According to ARTnews, Hinojos, also known as La Morena, is the first Chicana and Indigenous artist approached by the NFL for such a collaboration. Hinojos is working with Indige Design Collab of Cahokia Socialtech and Artspace to craft a 9,500-square-foot mural—the largest in Super Bowl history—alongside other Indigenous artists. Additionally, she is designing this year’s Super Bowl ticket and a new football design.
Harlem’s Riverbank State Park to receive facelift
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West Harlem’s pride and joy, Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park is set to receive a $26 million facelift. According to Gothamist, the 28-acre park overlooking the Hudson and the Palisades, which tallies nearly three million visitors annually, was constructed in response to community allegations of environmental racism atop a sewage treatment plant. Upgrades will include $19 million toward new locker rooms in its athletics and aquatics facilities, which will kick off next month in time for a reopening this spring. An additional $5 million will apply to the resurfacing of the outdoor track and a new turf field.
Vegas to open first weed-friendly hotel
The lobby of the Lexi hotel, shown in a rendering
If your stomach turns at the smell of the cigarette smoke and air freshener that permeates all Sin City casinos, an aromatic alternative has arrived. The former Artisan hotel in Las Vegas will reopen this spring as the Lexi. The catch? The 64-room hotel will boast an entirely cannabis-friendly floor of the building, MJBizDaily reports. (MJBizDaily is a sister brand of Hospitality Design.) The forthcoming hotel will target “individuals with a wanderlust mindset, cannabis enthusiasm, and a taste for new experiences.” So should you encounter this editor on the show floor at HD Expo + Conference later this year, a proposal to saunter down the Strip to the Lexi is very much on the table.
