Schrager teams with Highgate

NEW YORK CITY – Lifestyle hotel legend Ian Schrager is teaming up with owner-operator Highgate to expand the now 15-year-old Public Hotels brand, which has been very slow to develop outside its New York City flagship.

The Wall Street Journal reports that 79-year-old Schrager and Highgate want to acquire existing hotels or even small hotel companies, build new hotels and convert current Highgate properties to Public properties.

Just one Public hotel has been open since 2017 with a West Hollywood, California, property expected to open this spring.

Sources told Hotel Investment Today that Highgate is taking the management contracts for the two properties while Schrager retains ownership of the brand. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In December 2025, Schrager and Steve Witkoff reportedly secured a $310 million refinance loan from J.P Morgan Chase for the 367-room Public Hotel on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

“I want to have a big company,” Schrager told The Journal. “Because I’ve never done it before.”

Highgate, with more than 80,000 keys across North America, Caribbean, Latin American and Europe, will operate and manage Public hotels in collaboration with Schrager, while Schrager retains full creative authority, vision, and brand stewardship. It is the 

“I could have chosen anyone in the industry to partner with, but I chose Highgate,” Schrager said. “They are the smartest, most talented, and most disciplined operators and investors in the business. This partnership allows me to focus entirely on what I do best – concept, product, positioning and experience, while allowing Highgate to do what they do best. To me, it’s a dream team, where 1+1 = 10.”

“Ian is the greatest hotelier of the modern era,” said Highgate principal Mahmood Khimji. “He literally invented the lifestyle category. We are extremely excited to be working with him to operate PUBLIC Hotels.”