Sam Chang Buys Whitehouse Hotel for $7.8 M.

Can anyone in the New York City hotel business keep up with Sam Chang?

On June 11, the prolific hotelier purchased the Whitehouse Hotel at 338 Bowery for $7.8 million, according to city records.

However, unlike a number of properties that Mr. Chang has purchased, he has no immediate plans to change anything about the hotel.

“At this time, I have no plans to develop anything on the property,” Mr. Chang told The Observer. “I think that eventually we will build something, but as for now, nothing will change.”

Mr. Chang is building hotels in the city at a blistering pace. He currently has 4,000 rooms and 20 hotels under construction in the city, according to The New York Post. On one block of 39^th Street alone, he is building six new hotels that will range in height from 20 to 40 stories.

While Mr. Chang noted that there were no immediate plans for 338 Bowery, the location of the buy certainly raises eyebrows.

The three-story Whitehouse Hotel, known for its $30 room rates and international back-packing clientele, sits directly across the street from the recently opened Bowery Hotel.

Built by Eric Goode and Sean MacPherson of Maritime Hotel fame, the Bowery Hotel opened in February 2007 and made headlines largely because it was the first luxury hotel to open on the Bowery.

So, when Mr. Chang does decide to develop, will it be a trendy new tower to compete with its neighbor, or will the hotel mogul keep the Whitehouse Hotel prices and just give it a quick facelift?

Stay tuned.