New York’s growing event venue scene for award galas, weddings and conferences is set to get more competitive.
Convene Hospitality Group is adding a new independently branded space called The Mallory that spans over 50,000 square feet across three floors at Terminal Warehouse in Chelsea, one of the largest adaptive reuse projects in New York history.
The Mallory is slated to be CHG’s “most upscale venue” and the company’s first that’s been designed and conceptualized to host social events, a spokesperson told CoStar News.
CHG’s planned opening of The Mallory makes it the first tenant at the landmark 1891 structure that originally served as a freight terminal and transfer point for goods heading in and out of the city along the Hudson River.
CHG is the Brookfield-backed parent of Convene, which bills itself as the largest single provider of non-hotel meeting and event venues in the United States and United Kingdom.
Terminal Warehouse is being overhauled by developers Columbia Property Trust, L&L Holding and Cannon Hill Capital Partners, with CookFox the design architect, as a 1.3 million-square-foot office and retail complex made up of 12 office floors around a central courtyard. The project, occupying an entire Manhattan block from 11th Avenue to 12th Avenue and 27th Street to 28th Street, is also steps away from the High Line elevated park.
CHG said it’s slated to open The Mallory, a nod to the building’s original architect, George Mallory, in the second quarter next year.
The venue also will serve as a conferencing space and lounge for tenants of the office portion of Terminal Warehouse, CHG said. Spokespeople for both CHG and the developers declined CoStar News’ separate requests seeking terms of the deal.
Demand for meeting space
The events industry over the past two years has seen what CHG described as a 165% jump in demand from meeting planners seeking unique venues. CHG, which also counts global asset manager Ares among investors, has expanded the Convene brand in other high-profile neighborhoods in New York, including Hudson Yards and SoHo.
CHG in July said it’s opening a Convene event space location at the Scholastic Building in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood, with its signature on-site commercial kitchen and in-house catering led by an executive chef. CHG also has opened a new 72,000-square-foot Convene meeting and events venue at 30 Hudson Yards, its largest by capacity in the city that can host just under 1,500 guests. Convene’s 73,000-square-foot venue at Brookfield Place is its largest in the city by square footage, the spokesperson said. The Mallory is set to be CHG’s 18th location in New York among its global total of 39 locations spanning nine global cities.
Profitable business
Ryan Simonetti, CHG's president and CEO, has told CoStar News the Convene business is profitable as it generates the majority of its revenue from meetings and events that include in-house catering. About 90% of CHG’s revenue comes from hosting meetings and events with about 10% from flexible workspace, the company spokesperson said Monday. As the hybrid work trend has led companies to cut back on overall office space, studies have found companies increasingly host events off-site or seek properties that have an appealing event space as part of the tenant amenity package.
In another sign of landlords seeking to capitalize on demand for event hosting, just south of Terminal Warehouse, RXR's Starrett-Lehigh Building has opened a new 50,000-square-foot venue that features sweeping views of the Hudson River and hotel-style flexible conference space, podcast studios and a restaurant that's available for corporate and private bookings.
The Mallory intends to offer flexible spaces that can be customized depending on event needs and accommodate a total of up to 550 guests. The venue is set to feature a reception lounge with a 25-foot bar, grand event hall with 19-foot ceilings, VIP green room suites and gallery space with movable walls.
Designed to serve high-production immersive events, CHG said The Mallory plans to offer, besides an on-site commercial-grade catering kitchen, technology infrastructure including theatrical lighting, flexible 4K projection and a custom speaker system.
For the record
Rocco Laginestra of CBRE represented CHG in the leasing transaction. Terminal Warehouse was represented by Alan Schmerzler, Catherine Merck, Sean Moran, Steven Soutendijk and Patrick O’Rourke of Cushman & Wakefield.