Less than a week after the opening of the Hilton Garden Inn Midtown East, developer Sam Chang closed on the sale of the 85,000-square-foot hotel for $85.3 million, according to property records filed with the city yesterday.
Chang told The Real Deal the deal has been in contract with the buyer, Philadelphia-based real estate investment trust Hersha Hospitality Trust, for about two years. But the closing was set to be timed with the official launch of the 205-room, 28-story hotel, located at 206 East 52nd Street near Third Avenue.
Back in 2006, Chang, who runs Great Neck, N.Y.-based McSam Hotel Group, paid a mere $5.8 million for a vacant lot and proceeded to develop it, records show. Gene Kaufman, a frequent collaborator of Chang’s, served as the architect.
No brokers were involved in either side on the deal, Chang said.
A spokesperson for Hersha Hospitality Trust could not be immediately reached for comment. In February, Hersha sold Hotel 373 at 373 Fifth Avenue for $37 million, as previously reported.
Hersha has worked with Chang before, when the trust paid $28.7 million for 32 Pearl Street and $104.1 million for the stalled Hyatt Union Square hotel at 132 Fourth Avenue.