“London calling!”
A swanky hospitality brand’s plans for a new hotel and exclusive nightclub in Midtown mark the latest in a growing British invasion of NYC nightlife.
Minor International — which owns the Wolseley, a posh restaurant in London’s Piccadilly Circus, where an afternoon tea service runs north of $65 — is renovating the landmarked Lambs Building for its latest project, expected to open next year.
It’s part of a growing number of exports from across the pond. A private club company from London, Maison Estelle, is reportedly setting up shop in Flatiron as soon as next year. And Annabel’s, a posh British club known for catering to royals and celebs, is opening a NYC branch a few blocks away.
Minor International is taking over the former home of the Chatwal Hotel on West 44th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues. The 10-story, 75,000-square-foot establishment is expected to offer the same kind of luxury that the Wolseley in London — which Minor bought in 2022 — is famous for.
A spokesperson for the hospitality group — which is actually based in Bangkok, Thailand, and has establishments around the world — declined to share pricing or other details about the new “members club,” which will be inside the hotel. The hotel will be the first to get the Wolseley name.
Whatever form the club takes, it will inherit a rich historic legacy.
Built in 1905 by notorious Gilded Age architect Stanford White, the space was designed as a clubhouse for a theater group that counted Charlie Chaplin, Fred Astaire and George Gershwin as members.
While the group, called the Lambs, has not occupied the building for about 50 years, the latest tenants called on that legacy to draw customers for years. The Lambs Club Restaurant & Bar, once known as a spot with “retro glamour,” closed over the summer.
Minor’s CEO Dillip Rajakarier seems keen to continue the tradition, saying in a statement: “What excites us most is bringing together people who might not otherwise find themselves in the same room: founders and artists, producers and investors, hoteliers and philanthropists, established voices and emerging talent.”
In that vein, the hotel is planning on holding literary salons and hosted dinners, though potential debauchery in the club remains to be seen.
Ben-Josef Group Holdings, a New York-based developer and property owner, acquired the building for $53.2 million last October, according to Hotel Investment Today. Minor took over London’s Wolseley from the original operators, Corbin & King, back in 2022. Details of the lease were not immediately known.
The city’s British newcomers seem to have an eye for local history.
Maison Estelle is reportedly taking over a Gothic Revival church that once was home to the infamous nightclub Limelight. Wealthy clients will have access to the space that formerly housed drug-filled foam parties — and guests like Andy Warhol. Membership at Maison’s London outpost runs about $7,900 a year, though the US cost is not yet known.
The company is turning the 19th-century site into a full service restaurant in addition to a club, the Commercial Observer reported last week.
Last summer, Upper East Side residents reportedly freaked out when Maison tried to get a liquor license for a terrace to throw parties amid a quiet stretch of townhouses, prompting the club to set up in Flatiron, instead.
Meanwhile, Annabel’s is set to open in a landmarked factory building on Hudson and West 13th Streets — with a rooftop pavilion for private club members, natch.
Annabel’s reportedly picks its members based on “alchemy,” with an annual membership costing around $3,600 at the UK outpost. The London location’s dress code is “smart, clean and in good repair,” with men barred from wearing shorts and all guests not allowed to show too much skin.
New York City has been seeing a flood of members-only clubs — British and otherwise. Clubs like Casa Cipriani and Zero Bond, beloved haunts of former Mayor Eric Adams, have become celebrity favorites.