Luxury hoteliers Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis have long been in the second home business with real estate developments that appeal to their jet setting travelers, but a new high-end brand is diving into this competitive market. Hong Kong-based Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, a leading luxury hotel group in Asia, is poised to enter the North American market this year when the first of five residential projects in the U.S. and Canada opens its doors.

A variety of owning options, from fractional to whole ownership, along with modern interiors and amenities such as the Shangri-La’s branded Chi Spa, position the brand as a five-star entrant into the luxury real estate market. Here’s a sneak peak at the five developments breaking ground across the continent.

Chicago

The Shangri-La Hotel Chicago, opening in 2009, will be the hotel group’s first property in the United States. Its on-site Chi Spa will also be the first in the nation, and will boast seven treatment rooms, an indoor pool and a 2,000-square foot fitness center. The Shangri-La, along with the new Mandarin Oriental also opening in 2009, will join the Ritz-Carlton, already offering hotel condo ownership options in Chicago, to round out the list of luxury hotel real estate properties in the Windy City.

Residences at the Shangri-La will take full advantage of its Lake Michigan views with floor-to-ceiling windows and recessed terraces with glass railings. One to three bedroom residences and penthouses on floors 30–87 are selling now and range in price from $766,000 to $8.8 million. Condo units on floors 12–17 range in price from $624,000 to $2.1 million.

Miami

Situated on a 10-acre site facing downtown Miami from Watson Island in Biscayne Bay, the new Shangri-La Miami will be home to the Residences at Island Gardens. More than 100 fractional ownership residences will sit at the top of the new 39-story tower, and will be sold in one-eighth shares. The one to four bedroom units, with interiors designed by Piero Lissoni, range from $195,000 to $765,000 per fraction. Also on site are a signature Chi Spa, a 50-slip mega-yacht marina, a maritime museum, a botanical garden, and a plethora of dining and shopping options.

The property will open in 2010, just after the new Ritz-Carlton South Beach, opening in 2009, and sales reservations are already underway. The Four Seasons Miami already offers ownership options on furnished hotel residences as well as unfurnished, fully customizable penthouse suites.

New York

Located in midtown Manhattan, the Shangri-La Hotel, New York, opening in late 2010, will be a 64-story tower with just 17 ultra high-end residences occupying the top 10 floors. The condominiums, ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet, are not yet on sale and no prices have been released.

New York is already well-established in the luxury hotel real estate market, with private units at two Ritz-Carlton locations, full and fractional ownership options at the St. Regis Hotel on 55th Street and 5th Avenue, and 65 residential condos at the Mandarin Oriental on Columbus Circle.

Toronto

Living Shangri-La Toronto, opening in 2011, will have plenty of competition among the numerous luxury developments breaking ground in this booming cosmopolitan Canadian city, as well as the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton properties already offering ownership options at its properties there. The some 352 residences will occupy the top 48 floors of the 65-story Living Shangri-La building, with prices ranging from $800,000 to over $10 million.

Vancouver

Living Shangri-La Vancouver, which will open in 2008, will be the first Shangri-La property to open in all of North America, and will blaze the trail in that market, along with new Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont properties in the works. Better move quickly if Vancouver is your Shangri-La of choice; only five private residences and one penthouse are still available, with remaining property prices starting at $4.6 million.