Sam Chang Sells Long Island City Hotel for $40M

Budget hotel king Sam Chang offloaded another part of his portfolio.

Chang’s McSam Hotel Group sold the 142-key hotel it developed at 38-04 11th Street for $40 million to a limited liability company tied to Jasmin Patel, a principal at hotel operator Letap Group, according to property records made public Thursday.

A previous developer tried, and failed, to build a hotel at 38-04 11th Street when Chang swooped in and picked up the site for $7.8 million in 2017, according to The Real Deal. Chang scored a $16.5 million construction and acquisition loan from Madison Realty Capital in 2018 for the project, ConnectCRE reported. 

Chang recently completed the hotel and went into contract with Letap in December 2022 to sell it, according to PincusCo, which first reported the sale.

In 2019, the prolific hotelier told the Wall Street Journal that he would wind down his empire and get out of the business. However, that hasn’t stopped him from taking on new projects, and in February 2023 Chang landed $35 million in financing to build a hotel at 223 West 46th Street in Times Square.

Still, Chang has sold off large chunks of his empire and in December let go of three Midtown hotels for more than $200 million, TRD reported.

The Long Island City-based Letap is also no stranger to the city’s hotel world, developing the Best Western Premier Herald Square at 50 West 36th Street and dropping $17 million last year to pick up a hotel at 38-60 13th Street in Long Island City.

A representative for McSam did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Patel and Letap could not immediately be reached for comment. It’s unclear who brokered the sale.

Nicholas Rizzi can be reached at nrizzi@commercialobserver.com.