New Midtown West hotel to rise on contaminated site

Long Island-based Optima Real Estate is developing a Gene Kaufman-designed hotel at 333 West 38th Street.

The 21-story hotel between Eighth and Ninth avenues will contain 79 rooms and is slated to open in 2015. The site went into contract in 2011 for about $190 per buildable foot, as previously reported. However, the land needs some TLC before welcoming any visitors, according to a report from New York Yimby. The land is contaminated with semi-volatile organic compounds, according to public documents filed with city’s Office of Environmental Remediation. The OEM is in the midst of cleaning up the groundwater at the site.

A five-story commercial property currently occupies the 2,475‐square-foot site.

To create enough distance, Optima wants the building to sit above a 3.5-foot concrete slab intended to prevent human exposure to any toxic matter, New York Yimby said. [New York Yimby] — Mark Maurer