Sam Chang invades the rarefied territory of 56th St. Btwn 5th and 6th

[londonlawyer]

The following was published by the NY Post. Let's pray that this schmuck builds something worthy of the street.

May 1, 2007 -- HOTEL king Sam Chang has claimed another slice of Midtown for a new inn - a 14-story, 20,000-square-foot, full-service boutique property he plans to build at 20 W. 56th St. between Fifth and Sixth avenues, a few doors west of jeweler Harry Winston.

Chang's McSam Hotel Group just bought the doomed, existing five-story building on a 2,500-square-foot lot for $7.5 million. The small site can support the new hotel without needing any additional air rights.

Eastern Consolidated's Alan P. Miller brought in the buyer; the same firm's Eric M. Anton and Ronald A. Solarz repped the seller, Japanese investors True World Group.

Until last month, the address was home to Japanese restaurant Kiiroi Hana, which True World opened in 1983. "Its owners realized the time was right to cash in on their long-term investment," Solarz said.

The bustling, long West 56th Street block is also home to a much larger project - Nos. 31-39, now a large hole in the ground, where Manhattan Century Properties and the Stillman Organization are working on a mixed-use luxury condo.

But for the estate of late real estate legend Sol Goldman, Chang's site at 20 W. 56th might be the one that got away. Sources said heirs Jane Goldman and Alan Goldman own the adjacent small buildings at 18 and 22 W. 56th as well as a contiguous property on West 55th.

The Kiiroi Hana building would have given the Goldmans about 75 feet of uninterrupted frontage, but the sale to Chang broke up the nascent assemblage. "It may be they weren't aware True World wanted to sell - this was one of those under-the-radar transactions," our source said.

Miller said Chang has nearly 4,000 new rooms under construction in the city at more than two dozen locations. He has seven hotels under construction on West 39th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues.

Chang owns the real estate and signs up management companies to operate the hotels, which are flagged as Hilton Gardens, Holiday Inn Express and other brands.

PS: Here's a photo of the site:



PPS: How could Cuozzo laud this schmuck by calling him the "Hotel King"? Other names for Chang suggested on this forum are far more appropriate.

[krulltime]

Hmm... a small ugly building replace by a soon to be taller ugly building. I rather have the smaller one really.


Sam Chang's City Takeover Continues Unabated





To many we come in contact with, Sam Chang—and his McSam Hotel Group—is destroying New York City with his toss-'em-up-ASAP hotel projects. That's really an argument for another time. We come not to praise Chang, nor to bury him. Instead, let's just have a look at the scale of what this man is working on right now (if you want background, this is a good start). We've touched on a variety of his projects before, and as Steve Cuozzo reports in the Post today, McSam has nearly 4,000 rooms under construction at around 20 sites. One of the freshest, Cuozzo reports, is 20 West 56th Street (above), which McSam just acquired for $7.5 million. The current five-story building will be knocked down for a 14-story inn, with no additional air rights needed to get the thing built.


http://www.curbed.com/archives/2007/...s_unabated.php

[kurokevin]

Are we going to get another front yard for this building? Or is the zoning in this part of town different from that of Chelsea (23rd-34th) not requiring the setback that is demanded in manufacturing districts that are converted to hotel use. A Chang building is inapropriate and vile anywhere, but especially in this part of midtown.

The man has no shame! How much longer til he kicks the bucket?

[londonlawyer]

Fortunately, this building is a PO__.

[pianoman11686]

It's funny, that when I first saw this article on another site, I thought the existing ugly building WAS the new hotel Chang was planning. Could he actually be doing something worthwhile now in getting rid of this junk?

Someone needs to find this guy a new architect. I'd be satisfied if he switched to Costas.

[MidtownGuy]

He won't kick the bucket anytime soon. I saw him on the Stoler Report last night and he looked very healthy, happily talking about all of his projects. The
host never once mentioned the aesthetic criticism his buildings have received,
they just talked about money money money. I guess Harlem is lucky, because Chang said he isn't interested in it. The one impression I walked away with is that this guy values very little aside from ever bigger profits. Don't expect a decent building from him, anywhere.

http://www.stolerreport.com/

The archive for the show is not posted yet.

[pianoman11686]

Wouldn't expect that kind of reporting from Stoler. Have you ever read one of his articles in the Observer?

[sfenn1117]

First the heart of the financial district and now the heart of midtown. It's sickening and like midtownguy has said, it's frustrating he is getting all this admirable press, without one mention of his cheap construction practices and overall horrible designs that don't even belong on a Kansas interstate.

[antinimby]

Let's pray that this schmuck builds something worthy of the street.

Even God himself can't do much to help you there.

[NYCDOC]

I was thinking when I was walking around the city this weekend being offended by Chang's various POS "buildings" . . . . since the man has no motivation himself to build towers that are at least somewhat respectful of the surrounding environment maybe we could put pressure on the hotel companies that are inhabiting his properties. I think one of his buildings in midtown is a Hampton Inn. Correct? Companies like that hate bad press. So maybe we could contact the companies directly to let them know that there are many people who are discouraged by their support for Chang's lousy developments or maybe use this web site or contact different media outlets to bring attention to these companies supporting the destruction of NYC buildings and thus neighborhoods.

[investordude]

56th street has done perfectly fine with the existing building. Sam Chang will simply replace it with something that almost certainly will be nicer.

The reality is New York needs discount service hotels. It's a disadvantage we don't have enough of them, as the market expects them. This is a midblock site, so it won't really show up on photos, and all that matters is the retail, which I'm sure Sam Chang will make nice because he's a capitalist, as has previously been mentioned as some sort of evil in this thread

I'm all for reasonably priced hotel options in midtown in locations that won't impact the skyline even remotely, and Sam Chang is doing the city wonders.

Outside midtown, its even better, because he's show hotels can be built in places people have neglected in Brooklyn and Queens. Now, all the fancier hoteliers can answer their board rooms about why they've been redlining the rest of New York City, and start to treat New York with respect. Presumably, those chains will build more glitzy hotels to upstate Sam Chang, which is all good.

Give this man a medal, and celebrate capitalism without cronyism or activist groups lecturing people about why they can't stay in a discount hotel because 56th street is "rarified."

[pianoman11686]

For everyone out there who's wondering just how many more crappy hotels Sam Chang will build, check out this article. Looks like he might be moving up and out of the budget hotel sector.

[Gulcrapek]

McSam and Lam need to be stopped. Seriously.

[investordude]

Nobody should be stopping the private sector from investing in critical needs - its government meddling and activists that should be stopped. And according to the article, McSam is exiting the budget sector with this hotel on 56th, so how do you know it won't be good?

Your arguments are classic crony capitalist nonsense. For a new guy to amass potential as a major player in Manhattan, you start with easier projects in the outer borough. Just like at Donald Trump and his father. Thank goodness back then government couldn't just stop people because they want to be snobby, or cronyish. Now that McSam has shown he can deliver results, investors can feel they can provide him with financing to up his game a notch.

We'll see how McSam does on his new building, but I'm thinking it will be fine. Finally, someone is giving cronies like the Dursts of the world a run for their money, so they will now respond by producing supply and bringing hotel rates in NYC back within reason.

[antinimby]

This is a midblock site, so it won't really show up on photos, and all that matters is the retail, which I'm sure Sam Chang will make nice because he's a capitalist...and Sam Chang is doing the city wonders.

Really?

This is a typical McSam:



You sir, have just lost all credibility.