Sam Chang and 525 Eighth Avenue
Sam Chang has transferred majority ownership of a 320-key Garment District hotel he developed, marking the third New York hotel property he has unloaded in eight months.
Radisson opened the hotel at 525 Eighth Avenue in early 2020, but exited the location a short time later, following the city’s coronavirus lockdowns.
Property records filed Friday show Chang — who leads McSam Hotel Group — and two other investors transferred 70 percent of the hotel’s leasehold interest, valued at $47.4 million, to NY 8th Ave Investor, a limited liability company registered in Delaware.
That LLC is represented by attorney Gregory Weingart. Last October, Weingart represented the buyer in the sale of Chang’s recently completed hotel at 140 West 28th Street. McSam Hotel Group sold that property for $147 million.
And in December, McSam Hotel Group sold off a Garment District site at 338 West 39th Street, two blocks from the Chang’s Radisson development. Chang had been planning to open a 25-story, 175-key hotel at that location.
For the 525 Eighth Avenue property, Chang used a $38 million loan from Madison Realty Capital to complete construction on the hotel in 2018. He had purchased the ground lease two years earlier for $27.1 million.
The hotel opened in January 2020 as a Radisson, and Chang consolidated his debt on the property with a $63.5 million loan from Deutsche Bank one month later. But when Covid took hold, the hotel shuttered; future plans for the building remain unclear.
When reached for comment, Chang said he was not authorized to discuss the transaction. Weingart declined to comment.
The owner of the property’s fee interest is Joseph P. Day Realty.
