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US: Abdul “Duke” Fakir, singer with Motown legends The Four Tops, is one of the investors in a 140-room boutique hotel project.
The proposed $30 million renovation of the former School for the Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnatiincludes a 140-room boutique hotel, a day spa, a health club and fitness centre, a top-floor restaurant, and a 750-seat theatre.
Fakir has teamed up with Tom Wein of Remark Hospitality Development Company to put the plans together. Wein says he is in talks with three hotel brands to operate the property, which is expected to have room rates of $125 to $150 per night.
Wein and Fakir met in Detroit, where Wein was working on the Hotel St. Regis Detroit, in which Fakir is also an investor. They are working with HiFive Development Services on the project. Core Redevelopment LLC, which purchased the building at auction in 2012, will retain a small ownership stake in the project.
The property is expected to open toward the end of the fourth quarter of 2014.
“I’m too excited to talk about it,” Fakir said. “I’d rather be singing about it.”
