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Lenny Kravitz is ‘worth watching’
December 2, 2011
Vicky Sanderson
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Celebrities who suddenly develop a “passion” for design and unleash it on everything from perfume to high heels to reclining chairs, have produced mixed, if not regrettable, results. Lenny Kravitz could have easily joined that lucrative fray when he founded an eponymous design firm in 2003. Happily, though, the style-shifting rocker’s foray into design has turned out to more “worth watching” than “wannabe”.
In addition to his own residences in Paris and New York, Kravitz has designed bespoke furniture, sculptural chandeliers for Swarovski, put his stamp on the Florida Room at Miami’s Delano Hotel, and overseen a line of sexy, Brazilian-beat wallpapers for design-hound favourites Flavor Paper. Most recently, he led the creative vision of a 47-storey condominium in Miami. Reviews from the international design press are positive across the board.
Toronto will soon be added to the growing list, as Kravitz has signed on to design one of two hotel floors at Bisha, a 41-storey hotel/condo on Blue Jays Way. A joint project by the über-hip INK Entertainment — whose holdings include the Guvernment, Koolhaus, Ultra and Tattoo Rock Parlour — and Lifetime Developments, who list the Four Seasons Hotel/Residences on their lengthy CV, construction of the 30,000 square-foot complex is expected to begin by next March, with a planned opening in 2014.
Why a hotel/condo now? Because there’s room in the market for it, says Mel Pearl, a principal with Lifetime. “There are examples of hotel/condos at the five-star level, like the Four Seasons, but the only other four-star is The Thompson, which is a U.S. brand,” says Pearl. “We wanted to be part of that market. “
But Pearl and his team were also clear they wanted to make Bisha a brand with bite. The result blends rock sensibility with real-estate and recreation; the space will include in-house entertainment, two bars, two restaurants, a 24-hour café, a 7,000 square-foot rooftop patio, and an infinity pool overlooking the city. The 332 condominium suites, 94 per cent of which are sold, will run from floors 10 to 39, starting at a minuscule 379 square feet and moving upwards to over 2,500 square feet. The design elements of all 100 hotel rooms riff on lace and leather, glass and granite, with hits of shiny chrome, smooth marble and gleaming solid brass.
The possibility of Kravitz’s involvement began when he met, through a mutual friend, Charles Khabouth, CEO of INK. The two decided right away that they shared design sensibilities. “Charles saw in Kravitz a renaissance man; an actor, musician, real estate mogul and someone who is really serious about this business – he’s not just somebody who did his own condo and suddenly thinks he can design.”
There was a year of getting to know each other before the collaboration was formalized, a pace that indicates how meticulous Pearl and Khabouth were about defining the brand. That vigilance does not mean, however, that Kravitz will constrained by design vetoes.
“We pretty much gave him pretty carte blanche on one floor to design what he wants, from the corridor up to the Presidential suite,” says Pearl, adding that Kravitz has shown a healthy appreciation of the need to catch the rhythm of the overall design, which is being overseen by Alessandro Munge of Munge Leung. “He has a fantastic sensibility and taste, and will compliment what Munge is doing in a way that’s very creative, very fresh,” enthuses Pearl.
The long courtship will pay off, says Pearl. “We could have found someone pretty quickly who wanted to be attached to the brand. But we didn’t want to just have a name who would let some third-rate person execute the vision. Lenny is very particular about what he gets involved with as he breaks into this business. He wants to find projects where there’s a mutual focus.” Pearl references a “highly credible” team behind the Kravitz moniker, but there’s no reference to them on the website, and their press agent doesn’t offer details.
For Pearl and Khabouth, building the brand for the long-run will require more than seeing Torontonians line up for their condos, or watching the hotel become the new It place for drinks and people-watching. In fact, they hope to create a template from a Toronto Bisha. “We never intended to be a one-off,” he says. “We are at nursery school stage, but we intend to go across Canada and into the States with the brand.”
All three share the vision of hotel as a social nexus. “There was a time when you would start an evening with a plan to meet a friend at a hotel lobby or bar,” says Pearl. “That went away but I think there’s a rebirth of that kind of space. I know that when the Four Seasons was being planned there was a great emphasis on the hotel as meeting place.”
Moving forward, Pearl promises that there will be new associations and collaborations. “We will be doing more, and moving in different directions. But we’re not a typical condo, so we have to be very careful and specific about what we do. That’s our commitment to our future buyers – I think they’ve come to expect that from us.”
Pearl thinks the fact that both the Bisha and Kravitz Design brands are at early stages of development provides another level of synergy on the current project, one that he thinks may also help define his brand in the long-term .
“It means it really important for all of us that we make this work. It’s exciting to work with Lenny right now. I think you’re always lucky to catch people at that stage of their career. It’s hard to find people like that. But when you do, you need to capitalize on it,” says Pearl.
You can read Vicky Sanderson’s On the House blog at www.thestar.blogs.com/onthehouse. Contact Vicky Sanderson at vswriter@sympatico.ca and follow her on Twitter @vickysanderson.