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BY THE END of the decade, downtown Manhattan will boast the city's tallest building, a host of new parks, a pair of new transit hubs, the World Trade Center Memorial, scores of new shops and restaurants and thousands of new full-time residents.
With all that in the works, it's no wonder that developers are in the process of making the area the city's hottest market for new hotels. Two dozen such projects are currently either under construction or on the drawing boards. Together, they will add 3,000 hotel rooms south of City Hall within the next, few years, more than doubling the current count of nine hotels with a total of 2,197 rooms, according to the Alliance for Downtown New York.
Underserved market
"IT'S AN INCREDIBLY Strong market and currently underserved," says Rex Hakimian, chief executive of The Hakimian Organization, which is converting the former J.P. Morgan headquarters at 75 Wall St. to an upscale hotel and condominium.
Next year, the 43-story brick tower will reopen with a 250-unit Hyatt Hotel and 350 condominiums. The hotel will capitalize on 360-degree views, 10-foot ceilings, large windows, and a landscaped Plaza between Pearl and Water streets.
On the other side...