Ian Schrager’s Public and 160 Leroy

To call him a “real-estate developer” is to miss the point. A longtime impresario of nightclubs, hotels, restaurants, and more, Ian Schrager has an uncanny ability to read the design zeitgeist. Schrager has tapped many of the world’s top talents in the service of his projects, and he continues to experiment with new enterprises.

In 2005, he sold Morgans Hotel Group, the company that made him a household name, and went into business as the Ian Schrager Company. Not that he left hotels behind. He collaborates with Marriott International on its luxury brand Edition. Simultaneously, he is expanding his own mid-market Public chain, which debuted in Chicago with a renovation by Yabu Pushelberg and has now come to the Lower East Side with a ground-up building by Herzog & de Meuron Basel.

Pursuing luxury residential projects, too, he’s currently developing another Herzog & de Meuron design, 160 Leroy, in the West Village—a curvy 14-story, 57-apartment building to feature Hudson River views and lush landscaping. Back at the Public, there are also 11 condominium units at the top. “only one residence left” flashed on the project’s website as Interior Design went to press. By the time the issue is in readers’ hands, that may already be someone’s new home.