Isaac Chetrit, Sioni File Stewart Hotel Conversion Plans

Isaac Chetrit and Jack Yadidi are one step closer to turning the shuttered Stewart Hotel into a multifamily complex in Midtown.

Yadidi’s Sioni Group filed plans for a 625-unit apartment building at 371 Seventh Avenue, the Commercial Observer reported. The site was a 618-key hotel, but it closed down in 2022, leaving little other than a handful of rent-regulated tenants, who have an unclear future.

Sioni and Chetrit’s Patriarch Equities were behind a filing in 2022, which also called for 625 units; the filing was ultimately withdrawn. The updated plans for a potential 31-story, 470,000-square-foot residential building were first reported by PincusCo.

Yadidi is listed as the owner of the project, while C3D Architecture’s Damir Sehic filed the application; neither responded to requests for comment.

Patriarch, Sioni and Highgate acquired the four-star hotel across from Madison Square Garden in 2016, paying $217.5 million and securing a $158.8 million loan from Blackstone; Tao Group later acquired a stake as well.

When the hotel closed in 2022, the owners entered into a contract with the city to utilize the site as a migrant shelter. The potential of a conversion loomed large for the site, however, which doesn’t require a rezoning to become residential.

In March, Isaac and Eli Chetrit bought out Highgate’s stake in the hotel, viewed as a move to facilitate the conversion process.

There’s a problem that could stand in the way of the conversion — six, actually. There are a half-dozen rent-regulated tenants occupying one-bedroom apartments in the building, paying between $753 and $1,296 per month in rent. It’s unclear how willing they will be to relocate (or if that’s even necessary).

Nearby, the Chetrits and Sioni are also working on a mixed-use skyscraper at 100 West 37th Street. Plans for the site, which also involves Damir Sehic and C3D, call for a 69-story, 370,000-square-foot tower with 300 residential units.

— Holden Walter-Warner