McSam on a tear with another hotel buy.

McSam Hotel Group LLC has acquired another development site, this time in Midtown South, where it plans to build a 20-story boutique hotel, of approximately 150 rooms, a block north of Herald Square and minutes from Macy's, Bryant Park and the Empire State Building. The sales price for the site at 57-61 West 35th Street was $13.25 million.

Eastern Consolidated arranged the transaction. Chairman and CEO Peter Hauspurg together with Roberto F. Ortiz, Director, and Associate Brokers Anna Maria Ronquillo and Eric Klein, exclusively represented the seller, Donelson C. Glassie of Synergetic Real Estate Group LLC, a Newport, Rhode Island-based hospitality company. Alan P. Miller, Director, procured the buyer, New York City-based Sam Chang of McSam Hotel Group.

Synergetic, also a hospitality company, plans to build another 177-room, 20-story hotel on West 37th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, hence the decision to sell this site on West 35th Street.

"There was tremendous international interest in this site," noted Hauspurg.

"We fielded inquiries from hotel groups based in several countries overseas, which is not surprising since West 35th Street off Fifth Avenue is in the heart of the Penn Plaza district known for its many tourist attractions and proximity to major subway and train lines."

According to Miller, "McSam Hotel Group's mandate is to develop boutique hotels strategically-located in and around Times Square, 34th Street, and Chelsea, so this West 35th Street site was ideal for my client's purposes."

Miller has recently acquired a number of similar sites for McSam, namely 37 West 24th Street, 121 W. 26th Street, 343-45 West 44th Street, and 132-38 Fourth Avenue, to name a few.

At a time when there is a distinct dearth of hotel rooms in New York City, in part due to the many hotels which have converted to condominiums, hotels as an asset class are on track to further appreciate. "The significant sales price of $13.25 million attained for this site is a result of heavy demand from the hospitality industry to replenish the hotel stock in Manhattan, especially in the Penn Plaza submarket," added Mr. Hauspurg.

Leonard H. Hecht, Esq. of Thomas T. Hecht, P.C. represented the seller in the transaction, while Brian G. Wrynn, Esq. acted in-house for the buyer.

Synergetic Real Estate Group owns and operates hotels, each with a distinct character, along the Atlantic Coast from Martha's Vineyard to Miami's South Beach. The company also owns and operates several yachts for extended overnight cruising in New England during the summer and in the Caribbean during the winter months.