Sam Chang will pay $32M for pair of Midtown East buildings

A 20-story Hyatt hotel with full-service restaurant is planned

From left: 14 And 16 East 39th Street and Sam Chang
From left: 14 And 16 East 39th Street and Sam Chang

Details have emerged on hospitality magnate Sam Chang’s plans for a 20-story hotel in Midtown East.

The McSam Hotel Group boss is scheduled to close on 14 And 16 East 39th Street for $31.6 million. The vacant properties — acquired from Midtown-based ClearRock Properties and Stamford, Conn.-based Juster Properties — will be demolished to make way for a 20-story Hyatt Hotel.

The 12-story, 93,700-square-foot building 16 East 39th Street has 25 feet of Frontage On East 39th Street, the New York Observer reported. The three-story, 7,400-square-foot commercial townhouse next door at 14 East 39th Street comes with 22,000 square feet of air rights.

In January, Chang filed permit applications for a 162-key hotel at the site, as The Real Deal reported.

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The new hotel and full-service restaurant will span more 66,000 square feet and be designed by Gene Kaufman, according to the permit application filed with the city. The top floor will house a lounge area while the cellar would be used as a dining space and exercise room. The hotel is slated to be completed in three years, Chang told the Observer.

Cushman & Wakefield’s Robert Knakal is negotiating the new deal for both sides.

ClearRock and Juster Properties paid $29 million for the buildings in 2013, which were part of a portfolio of office properties Yeshiva University sold for $87 million.

Chang filed plans last year for two Garment District hotels — a 25-story, 175-key project at 338 West 39th Street and a 21-story, 400-key development at 350 West 39th Street — as well as a 13-story hotel at 111 East 24th Street in the Flatiron District. [NYO]Dusica Sue Malesevic