Sam Chang | The New York Observer

Sam Chang, Reclusive Hotelier to the Masses, Speaks; Warns About Outer Boroughs, Bullish on Manhattan

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 22:12:46 -0400

For a brief moment on Friday, Sam Chang had trouble recalling precisely where he was weaving his ever-expanding web of budget hotels.

Mr. Chang's senior moment was understandable. He is developing 16 city hotels right now -- emphasis on now, during what most consider to be one of the worst recessions to hit New York in ages, hospitality industry included.

Among the ongoing projects are three hotels in Staten Island, one...

Chang Sells Another Hotel in Chelsea

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:54:29 -0500

From The Real Deal: "Hotel developer Sam Chang of the McSam Hotel Group and a partner sold their newly opened Wyndham Garden Hotel Manhattan Chelsea West, for $39.06 million, according to property records published today. The 17-story hotel with 124 rooms opened last week at 37 West 24th Street, a hotel employee said."

For more Observer coverage on the prolific Mr. Chang, including another Chelsea hotel trade, click here. ...

Three Reasons to Doubt Downward Trend of Hotel Industry

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:20:15 -0500

Some hoteliers buck received wisdom, taking chances on fringe neighborhoods in far-away boroughs (see Sam Chang). Others trust blindly in the perpetual worth of a brand called Manhattan (see Sam Chang?). Only time will tell which group the following three developers fall into, all of whom filed plans with the Buildings Department in the past two weeks to build new hotels in Manhattan.

First, there’s the apparently unstoppable Mr. Chang, who filed...

McSam Unloads Yet Another Hotel Onto Voracious Magna Hospitality

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 11:03:41 -0400

Sam Chang has sold Hampton Inn Empire State Building, at 57 West 35th Street, for $46 million, according to city records.

Mr. Chang purchased the development site in 2006 for $13.3 million.

The Hampton Inn, well situated between Fifth and Sixth avenues, near Herald Square, is just the latest McSam hotel to fall into the hands of the Rhode Island-based Magna Hospitality Group.

Earlier this fall, Mr. Chang sold Magna his new Holiday...

Sam Chang Revs Up Yet Again

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:05:32 -0400

So much for hitting the brakes.

Sam Chang, New York's hotelier for the common man, strikes again.

This week he filed an application with the Buildings Department to build a 25-story hotel at 54 West 36th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, near Herald Square.

This will, of course, be the gazillionth hotel Mr. Chang has built in New York over the past few years - a pace The Real Deal in December 2006 dubbed "dizzying":

Christyne...

Sam Chang-Affiliated Chelsea Holiday Inn Trades for $66 M.

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:18:22 -0400

Sheesan Hotel LLC, an affiliate of economy hotel tycoon Sam Chang, has sold the new Holiday Inn Manhattan Hotel in Chelsea for $66 million to a Rhode Island-based hospitality group, according to records uploaded on Friday to a city Web site.

The buyer, MMG-26 LLC, affiliated with Magna Hospitality Group, closed on the 23-story, 226-room hotel, at 121 West 26th Street, on June 30.

This isn't the first time Mr. Chang has sold...

Planned Hudson Tunnel Puts an Extra $6 M. in Sam Chang's Pocket [UPDATED]

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:53:23 -0400

With at least eight years left before a set of new rail tunnels under the Hudson River are scheduled to be built and functioning, developer Sam Chang has already begun to reap benefits from the project. That's because the voracious builder of cookie-cutter hotels bought a $24 million West Side parking lot last November—a lot that just happened to be the same site the Port Authority needs in order to build the more than...

Pussycat Lounge Preserved! Sam Chang Sells Building To Club Owner for $2.5 M.

Fri, 02 May 2008 09:36:50 -0400

After a lengthy legal fight, ravenous hotel developer Sam Chang has apparently given up his plan to tear down the old Pussycat Lounge at 96 Greenwich Street.

Mr. Chang has agreed to sell the ancient, circa-1799 building to Pussycat owner Robert Kremer for $2.5 million, according to city records -- that's $1 million less than Mr. Chang paid for it in 2005.

Mr. Kremer had disputed that prior sale in court, arguing that the deal...

Sam Chang Strikes Again: $60 M. Sale On Stone Street

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:17:22 -0400

Hotelier to the masses Sam Chang continues to retrench amidst market turmoil, selling a Financial District lot to Magna Hospitality for $60 million, according to a report in The Real Deal.

Mr. Chang bought the lot at 8 Stone Street last year for $17 million, apparently planning to build a Doubletree Hotel on the site. The hotelier has worked extensively with Magna Hospitality, a Rhode Island-based firm. Last...

Hotelier Sam Chang Snags Another Site

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:39:16 -0500

Voracious hotel developer Sam Chang has acquired yet another piece of Manhattan.

City records show that Mr. Chang's Great Neck, N.Y., company has paid $27 million for a building at 6-12 Water Street.

According to PropertyShark.com, the 21,000-square-foot building includes a two-story McDonald's -- quite appropriate for the McSam gang....

Sam Chang Can't Work As A Parking Attendant Forever

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:55:56 -0500

Prolific hotelier Sam Chang just keeps on a-wheelin' and a-dealin'.

One day, he's selling his unfinished Sheraton on Canal Street for $83.5 million, according to The Real Deal.

A few days later, he picks up a new site for $24 million, according to city records. Mr. Chang's latest acquisition, at 431 West 33rd Street, is, according to PropertyShark.com, a 7,000-square-foot parking lot.

Now, the voracious developer may not be known for his valet skills,...

Sam Chang Unloads Unfinished Midtown Holiday Inn

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:02:29 -0500

New York's "build now brand later" hotel king, Sam Chang, has sold his Holiday Inn Express in Times Square for $42 million, according to city records--and the hotel has not even opened yet.

Construction of the 198-room budget hotel chain at 505 West 43rd Street (one of the McSam Hotel Group's dozens of other midtown hotel franchises in development) is not slated for completion until mid-2009, but buyer Magna Hospitality Group, which manages some...

99 Washington Street--Poof! Sam Chang Strikes Again! Next On The Chopping Block: 50 Trinity Place

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:52:09 -0500

Ravenous hotel developer Sam Chang continues to devour buildings in the Financial District.

Just a month ago, 99 Washington Street, site of Mr. Chang's forthcoming 350-room Holiday Inn, was still standing--albeit shrouded in a death-black curtain (pictured left).Over the past several weeks, crews have dismantled almost the entire building (right).

Next up to come down: 50 Trinity Place, just one block away, site of an unnamed 186-room McSam hotel. (The demolition permit was issued Jan....

Hotel King Chang Stakes Another McSam Flag in Hell's Kitchen

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 13:02:25 -0500

Sam Chang is at it again!

According to public records, the voracious developer has snatched up yet another plot of land, this time in Hell's Kitchen, paying $6.6 million for the current Pace Auto Parts Inc., building at 548 West 48th Street.

What will become of the lot?

Another hotel?

Condominiums?

A condo-hotel?

Stay tuned....

Cha-Chang! Sam Chang Builds First, Brands Later

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:55:20 -0500

Sam Chang isn’t your typical New York hotel developer.

While others strive to emulate the chic boutique model, popularized by luxury lodging pioneer Ian Schrager, Mr. Chang has taken an alternative approach, bringing the suburban-style comforts of national hotel chains to urban explorers across the five boroughs.

Sure, even Mr. Schrager himself has a new line of hostelries now in the works under the Marriott moniker. But it’s hard to...

Sam Chang Sells Chelsea Lot for $55 M.

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:07:53 -0400

Prolific hotelier Sam Chang has sold a lot at 121 West 28th Street to a North Carolina-based firm for $55 million, according to city records.

The Chelsea lot is zoned for hotel construction, according to PropertyShark.com. We have a call out to buyer Inland American Winston Hotels. According to the company's Web site, it already has two hotels in New York State, but none in the city; one in Albany is a Hilton Garden Inn...

Sam Chang Buys Whitehouse Hotel for $7.8 M.

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:00:45 -0400

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.

The Afternoon Wrap: Wednesday

Wed, 13 Dec 2006 11:48:46 -0500

Down in DUMBO and Vinegar Hill, there's a bunch of "brash adolescents swaggering around a yard of surly and sober old-timers." Those adolescents are condos, of course, and they've "emerged from hardcore puberty growth spurts." [Gothamist] Scandal! Bribery! Cat-fights! A pair of huge local hotel developers (and ex-partners) John Lam and Sam Chang are "battling over a subcontractor that one claims the other tried to lure away illegally." Manhattan is the new LA. [The Real...