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Hotel sites include NY’s “Clock Tower”

Marriott International Inc. said it will open five new Edition hotels, the luxury lifestyle brand it created in partnership with Ian Schrager. The new hotels will include locales in New York (in the former Met Life “Clock Tower”), Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles and Gurgaon, India.

Marriott acquired the New York skyscraper for $165 million from Africa Israel USA. Renovation and conversion work on the building is slated to start late this year.

"New York is one of the most important destinations in the world, and we are delighted to have secured the Clock Tower as a singular, iconic structure that will become a flagship for the Edition brand and one of New York's most compelling places to stay,” said Arne Sorenson, Marriott's president and coo. “While the rollout of the Edition brand was slowed by the global economic downturn, we remain strongly committed to this brand and are dedicated to its continued development and success.”

The Bangkok Edition will be part of a mixed-use development planned for one of the tallest buildings in that Asian city, while the Abu Dhabi locale will be part of the Al Bateen Harbor complex within the Abu Dhabi Marina, an upscale mixed-use development that includes luxury residential and retail. Marriott did not disclose specifics on the Los Angeles and Indian locales.

Only two Editions—in Istanbul and Honolulu—have been built since Marriott and Schrager first unveiled plans for the brand more than four years ago. The Honolulu locale has been the subject of an ongoing legal battle between Marriott and its owners, who have taken the Edition name off the property. Meantime, Marriott and Schrager are also working on Editions in London (in the former Berners Hotel) and Miami Beach (in the former Seville Hotel), both of which are slated to open next year.