Looking for a new venue to host your next event? Here are the most anticipated New York restaurants, corporate event venues, hotels, conference centers, and private and party rooms to open next year. These new and renovated New York venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, conferences, meetings, weddings, business dinners, teambuilding activities, cocktail parties, and more.
1. The Whitney Museum of American Art will decamp Midtown for its new downtown location in the meatpacking district, scheduled to open May 1. The 220,000-square-foot contemporary art museum is designed by architect Renzo Piano and will include a 170-seat theater, a black box theater with an adjacent outdoor gallery, and double the exhibition space of its previous home. Union Square Hospitality Group will operate a ground-floor restaurant and a café.
2. From atop One World Trade Center—the city's tallest building—the One World Observatory will offer panoramic views of New York from levels 100, 101, and 102. The entire observatory comprises 120,000 square feet of space. The 102nd floor will serve as a 9,300-square-foot event space that will hold 330 for receptions. It will offer catering and include features such as a sound system and HD projection capabilities. The observatory is scheduled to open in the spring.
3. Following a years-long restoration, the historic Kings Theatre in Brooklyn's Flatbush neighborhood is scheduled to open in February with a grand-opening concert featuring Diana Ross. Formerly called the Loew's Kings Theatre, the venue originally opened in 1929 but has been closed for the past 40 years. Now owned by the city, the space is finishing a $94 million renovation that will restore its ornate design and modernize the facility for live performances. At 3,000 seats, it will be the largest theater in Brooklyn.
4. Two years after closing the New York outpost of his L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, the acclaimed French chef will reopen the restaurant in Battery Park as part of the booming Brookfield Place shopping development. Scheduled to open in March, the restaurant will comprise a fine dining room, a bar and lounge, and outdoor seating. Its location offers views of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty.
5. The French food marketplace and dining destination Le District is planning to open in March in Brookfield Place. At 30,000 square feet—23,000 indoors and 7,000 outdoors—the space will include four "districts" for its restaurants, cafés, grocery, and market counters and wine shop. The restaurant district include the full-service Beaubourg Brasserie, which seats 96 indoors and 166 outdoors; Le Bar, which seats 45 indoors and 84 outdoors; and the chef's table and private event space called L'Appart. The owners are HPH Hospitality Group.
6. The restored Knickerbocker Hotel is set to reopen to guests in February. Originally opened in 1906 by John Jacob Astor IV, the Beaux-Arts building has spent decades as office space but now returns to its original life as a luxury property. The Times Square hotel claims a colorful history, including the creation of the martini in 1911 by its bartender, Martini de Arma de Taggia as a drink for John D. Rockefeller. The 330-room property will have dedicated meeting space. Its largest room, the Salon, is 2,200 square feet and seats 100 or holds 200 guests for receptions. Audiovisual equipment and free Wi-Fi are available for the fourth-floor space. The hotel also is home to the highly anticipated 120-seat restaurant, Charlie Palmer at the Knick, and a pre-event foyer is adjacent to the bar.
7. The Baccarat Hotel, named for the French crystal brand, is planning a February opening in Midtown. The luxury property, housed in a 50-story tower designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, will includes114 guest rooms designed by Parisian firm Gilles & Boissier. The hotel's bar and restaurant—not yet named—will be available for private events, as will a small meeting space. The property will also have a spa and swimming pool.
8. Ocean Prime, the seafood and steak concept from Cameron Mitchell Restaurants is scheduled to open in Midtown in late summer. It will be the chain's 12th restaurant. The firm Icrave is designing the 7,400-square-foot restaurant, which will seat 275. The space will include private dining rooms, a bar and lounge, a 50-seat terrace, and a separate sushi bar.
9. SBE is set to open its first New York property, the 190-room SLS Hotel New York, this year. In partnership with Moinian Development and designer Philippe Starck, the Park Avenue hotel will include a rooftop event venue.
10. The final piece of the renovation of Sixty SoHo hotel, Sessanta restaurant is set to open in early 2015. Restaurateur John McDonald, whose credits include Lure Fishbar among others, plan Sessanta as a casual restaurant serving coastal Italian fare. Martin Brudnizki Design Studio is designing the space, which will have indoor and seasonal outdoor seating.
