A deal for a 55,000-square-foot building at 223-225 Bowery, formerly home to the Salvation Army Chinatown Shelter, has finally closed.
The property, in contract since 2012, was purchased for more than $30 million by the Omnia Group and North Wind Group. The pair plan on bringing a 180-room Ace Hotel, and likely a small number of residential condominiums, to the property following a gut renovation. Omnia is primarily known for its residential projects.
Alan Miller and Roberto Ortiz of Eastern Consolidated represented the buyers in the deal, while Robert Freedman and Jonathan Plotkin of Colliers International represented the Salvation Army. Neither of the brokerage firms offered comment on the deal.
The building is being gutted, rather than demolished outright, Plotkin previously told The Real Deal, because it is overbuilt by 19,500 square feet. He said it’s better to work with the existing space than lose it with new construction.
Sources said the deal took such a long time to close because the Chinatown Community Center operated by the Salvation Army needed to find a new location. The not-for-profit finally found a suitable spot in Brooklyn a few months ago. The center operated as soup kitchen, serving hundreds of meals a day.
The Salvation Army had owned the building since 1972, public records show.
Permits were filed by the new owners for a hotel conversion in December, according to the Department of Buildings’ website.
Omnia has been in buying mode in recent months. The company snapped up the former headquarters of another charity, the Xavier Society for the Blind, earlier this year for $9 million. The building, at 154 East 23rd Street, will likely be converted to residential, according to previous reports.