Magna Hospitality continues buying spree with $160M Sam Chang deal

Magna Hospitality Group, one of the biggest buyers of struggling New York hotels, is continuing its spree.

The Rhode Island-based company paid $160 million to buy the Hilton-branded hotels at 150 West 48th Street from Sam Chang’s McSam Group, property records show.

The 38-story building is home to three of Hilton’s flags: Hampton Inn, Home 2 Suites and Motto Hotel. Chang’s McSam Group recently finished construction on the property, which has more than 1,000 rooms.

Representatives for Magna Hospitality and Chang could not be immediately reached for comment.

It’s the latest purchase by Magna, which in the early days of the pandemic was active buying up hard-hit hotels.

The company paid $115 million in September 2020 to buy the 310-room Embassy Suites at 60 West 37th Street from Ashford Hospitality Trust, which had paid $195 million for the property just 18 months earlier.

Magna also bought distressed loans on the 239-room Fairfield Inn & Suites at 325 West 33rd Street and the 224-room Courtyard by Marriott at 307 West 37th Street and took over control of the properties.

This most recent deal is not the company’s first with Chang. 

Magna in recent years bought the Chelsea hotel at 140 West 28th Street from Chang for $147 million and the Garment District hotel at 338 West 36th Street for $274 million.

Chang, who in 2019 said he was retiring to focus on his hobby of pigeon racing, has since sold off a number of his hotels. 

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