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When Daniel Boulud, one of the city's most lauded chefs, was looking to expand his empire, he didn't fish around in hot restaurant areas like the meatpacking district or SoHo.
Instead, he set his sights on midtown. Mr. Boulud decided to bite when he found a space in the City Club, a small luxury hotel under construction on West 44th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
Mr. Boulud's eatery-db, which opens next month is symptomatic of more than the desire of yet another famous chef to profit from his reputation. It marks a new level of achievement in the transformation of one city block from upper-crust to derelict to surprisingly swell.
"We think it is a fabulous location," says Joel Smilow, Mr. Boulud's longtime financial partner and a backer of this project. "It's bubbling with hotels and clubs."
Royalton sows seeds
Not too long ago, a new venture on the block would have been unimaginable. But years after hotelier Ian Schrager first planted the seeds of change with his trend-setting Royalton hotel in 1987, the street is finally flourishing and poised for even more growth.
Condos planned
Plans for the block include condominium apartments that may be added to the top of the Royalton, and new guest rooms that are part of an eight-story addition to the Harvard Club.
Fresh off a burst of construction that included the Sofitel, the first New York branch of a French luxury hotel chain, the...