(Rendering of Zero Bond)
Zero Bond, which will open in New York City in September, is the latest “work and social club” that seeks to cater to professionals who want workplace amenities they don’t have at home, but also a safe and stimulating social atmosphere. “I wanted to create an elevated environment,” says Scott Sartiano, a successful nightclub operator who is making his first venture into private clubs with Zero Bond. “I thought the 28-to-50-year-old bracket was kind of underrepresented when it came to social options.”
Scott Sartiano is a hospitality magnate, Business Insider reported, and the founder of some of the world’s hottest nightclubs, including New York City’s 1Oak, favored by celebrities like Drake and Paris Hilton, and Up & Down.
In September, Business Insider reported, Sartiano is slated to open his first-ever private members’ club, Zero Bond.
Located at 0 Bond Street in Manhattan’s NoHo (North of Houston Street) neighborhood, Zero Bond will be a “work and social club” for individuals in the art, entertainment, media, fashion, and literary industries, Business Insider reported.
“I wanted to create an elevated environment,” Sartiano told Business Insider of the decision to open the members’ club. “I thought the 28-to-50-year-old bracket was kind of underrepresented in New York when it came to social options. People want to know who they’re associating with, but also want their own space and more control over their experiences.”
Membership fees for Zero Bond will be $3,000 annually, with a $500 initiation fee, Business Insider reported. And while it’s not the most expensive members’ club in New York, it’s also not easy to get in: Those who apply are required to have a reference by a current member. The club has a roster of high-profile celebrities, athletes, and designers on board as founding members, including Kim and Kourtney Kardashian, Liev Schreiber, Tom Brady, Zac Posen, and Caroline Wozniacki.
“There’s no one type of person that Zero Bond is looking for,” Sartiono told Business Insider. “I want a mixture and diversity. That’s New York City. When you go out in New York and meet someone you wouldn’t have ordinarily met, that’s the makings of a great night.
“My goal is to create the safest place in New York to work and socialize,” Sartiano added. He’s implemented technology to automatically take the temperature of anyone who walks through the door, Business Insider reported. The staff’s temperature will be taken hourly and upon entry. There will also be dividers and separators to ensure social distancing.
The 20,000-sq.-ft., high-ceilinged space spans two floors with several lounge areas, two restaurants, five private rooms, and a bar, Business Insider reported. Design aficionados will love the club’s contemporary aesthetic, designed by William Sofield and Studio Sofield, which designed store interiors for Gucci and Tom Ford. The building, built in 1874, retains much of its original structure, including red-brick archways and large windows.
The building was formerly the second-ever Brooks Brothers store and factory, and in a nod to the building’s past, the staff will wear custom-designed Brooks Brothers uniforms, Business Insider reported. Zero Bond will also hang artwork by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Keith Haring, whose former studio was next door.
“I’m trying to tie things back into the neighborhood,” Sartiano said.
Zero Bond will also be a place to work, complete with quiet areas and phone booths to take calls without disturbing members.
“I want to create a place where people can come to work, have a meeting, have an after-work cocktail or come on a date,” Sartiano told Business Insider, adding that many members’ clubs in New York often feel overcrowded. “There’s always going to be space for people, and they’re always going to know your name and who you are.”
Zero Bond will be the latest entry in a new breed of private clubs that have come on the scene and stand to be “rare winners,” Business Insider reported, as people seek safe, hygienic and private places to work amid office closures and city-wide shutdowns. Other recent examples include the Chateua Marmont in Los Angeles (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/storied-west-hollywood-hotel-converting-to-a-private-club/) and the continued expansion of Soho House properties, which now number more than 27 clubs worldwide, with locations slated to open in Tel Aviv, Rome, Paris, Nashville, Austin, Canouan, and another in London, in 2021 and 2022.
The Soho House expansion has included a response to how the office landscape is shifting and how private clubs can now serve effectively as remote workspaces, Business Insider reported. It’s now not uncommon to see a sea of laptops at a given Soho House during the day. And in an effort to give members a more dedicated workspace, the company launched its first shared workspace for creatives, Soho Works, in London in 2015.
The first New York City Soho Works outpost opened earlier in 2020, with the opening of a Los Angeles location still slated for before the year ends, Business Insider reported. Existing Soho House members and non-member creatives alike can apply for membership, to gain access to work amenities including printers, phone booths, meeting rooms, and podcast equipment that they might not have at home.
With the pandemic limiting in-person meetings, some private clubs are also turning to digital programming to keep guests entertained and connected, Business Insiderreported.
Soho House, which was known in pre-pandemic times for programming that includes off-site trips and mixology classes, is finding new ways to engage with members,Business Insider reported. Since April, its clubs have hosted digital events, including speakers, musical performances, meditations, and virtual screenings via its app.
The CORE: Club in New York City is another club implementing digital events for members to access remotely, Business Insider reported. The club opened its doors in New York City in 2005 and now has 1,600 members. Initial members’ fees cost $50,000 and annual dues are $17,000.
CORE: Club Founder Jennie Enterprise told Business Insider that membership is “highly curated,” with a focus on a search for those seeking “intellectual challenges.” While privacy is of the utmost importance, members include leaders, entrepreneurs, and CEOs. What differentiates CORE: from other clubs, Business Insider reported, is the wide range of industries from which it selects members, including science and academia, hospitality and culinary, and sports and technology, among others.
COVID-19 inspired Enterprise to launch CORE: Connects, a digital platform featuring cultural programming, Business Insider reported. Sessions are recorded, uploaded to the website, and made available for members only. One speaker series, called Minds & Mavericks, includes sessions by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Abigail Disney, documentary filmmaker, philanthropist and social activist.
CORE: is slated to open its second location in Milan, Italy in 2021, Business Insiderreported.
Chateau Marmont, the historic Los Angeles hotel that first opened in 1927 and was bought by André Balazs Properties in 1990, has been known for glamorous parties that attract actors, writers, musicians, and artists, Business Insider reported. Balazs’ plans to rebrand it as a members’-owned hotel stemmed from the fact that 70% of guests were repeat customers and the top 100 guests generated the majority of the room revenue.
In addition to the investment, owners will be able to leave personal belongings, stay for extended periods of time, and have access to private dining areas, Business Insiderreported. Only one restaurant and a few common areas will be available for public access. When owners aren’t staying there, the hotel will only accept guests personally recommended by owners.
The Business Insider report also included comments from Henry Wallmeyer, President and CEO of the National Club Association, whose members include 400 clubs like the prestigious Yale Club of New York City, New York Athletic Club and New York Yacht Club.
Within the last five years, Wallmeyer noted, private clubs have become a “third place.”
“Everybody’s first place is their home, second is work, and the third place is their personal refuge,” he told Business Insider.
“What’s been amazingly surprising, but good, is how quickly clubs turn[ed] on a dime once COVID-19 hit,” Wallmeyer added. “Historically, clubs have been notoriously slow in changing. A lot of it is because some are 100 years old.”
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