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A historic hotel just south of Central Park that has been shut for two years is starting a new life as rental housing.
Manhattan-based CSC Coliving is taking on the conversion of the Hudson Hotel at 346 West 58th St., Crain's New York Business reports. The 878-room hotel, which closed at the beginning of the pandemic, is expected to be turned into a 438-unit project with apartments ranging from studios to three bedrooms.
The units will be offered at a 20% discount to other units in the area, Paul Rahimian of Parkview Financial, which is a lender on the project, reportedly said in a May announcement. The hope is to attract young professionals, students and small families to the building, he said.
Eldridge acquired the hotel from SBE Entertainment Group in 2020, then sold the 363K SF building for $207M earlier this year, with CSC originally signing the contract, per Crain's. But investment firm Montgomery Street Partners ultimately bought the property and leased it to CSG on a 99-year deal.
The property was built in 1929 as a clubhouse for the American Women’s Association and was initially housing for young, single women, according to Crain's. It became a hotel during World War II. Sam Nazarian’s SBE took over the hotel after SBE acquired the Ian Schrager-founded Morgans Hotel Group in 2016.
CSC has investments in over 10,000 properties in Mexico and the United States, according to its website. Its portfolio includes a former Catholic church and elementary school at 2045 Madison Ave. and Lafayette House in Bedford-Stuyvesant. It also redeveloped 3701 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia from student housing into a co-living operation.
The conversion of out-of-commission hotels in the city has been floated as a potential way to generate more housing amid soaring rents. However, government attempts to drive these kinds of projects have brought very little to fruition so far.
Co-living aims to offer a cheaper housing alternative for renters that have been grappling with rising prices for several years now, but many of the firms in the sector ran aground during the pandemic.
In September, London-based The Collective, which owned several NYC properties, including the 224-room Paper Factory in Long Island City, fell into administration, the UK version of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. German co-living company Quarters liquidated its U.S. operations last year.
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