Sam Chang plans 18-story Midtown West hotel

McSam Hotel Group to erect Comfort Inn or Days Inn on warehouse site

337 West 36th Street and Sam Chang
337 West 36th Street and Sam Chang

The McSam Hotel Group is looking to build an 18-story, 80-room hotel – either a Comfort Inn or a Days Inn – in Midtown West, company head Sam Chang confirmed to The Real Deal.

Chang’s partner Dun Zhang at McSam filed plans with the Department of Buildings late last week to demolish the four-story, 9,500-square-foot warehouse currently on the site at 337 West 36th Street, between Eighth and Ninth avenues. Construction is slated to begin six months from now, at the earliest, Chang said in a phone interview from China.

“I made a promise that before I retire that I would sure make sure everybody owns part of a hotel,” Chang said, referring to Zhang and other partners.

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Chang, who expects to have a reduced role with this project, said last year he intends to retire sometime this year. He has not, however, yet set a retirement date.

McSam, which is based in Great Neck, N.Y., bought the property for $7.2 million from Kozani Properties in October, records show.

Last week, Chang also filed plans to build a 594-room hotel on a parking garage site at 346-354 West 40th Street. In addition, earlier this month, he sold a five-story commercial building at 12 Water Street to Rhode Island-based Magna Hospitality Group for $44.3 million.