Developer Pays $30M for NoMad Hotel Site Previously Facing Foreclosure

A development site in NoMad originally slated to be the world’s tallest modular hotel has been purchased by Pro-H Development after previously facing foreclosure, according to city records made public Monday.

The Brooklyn-based developer bought the vacant lot at 842 Avenue of the Americas from the Chun family’s 842 Enterprises Inc. for $30 million, property records show. Pro-H closed the deal through the entity 842 Edenview, with Hung Pin Hung listed as the signatory for the buyer.

Robert Chun and Helen Chun, the couple listed as signatories for the seller, could not be reached for comment, while a spokesperson for Pro-H did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PincusCo first reported the deal.

In November 2017, Robert Chun submitted a proposal to build a 77,819-square-foot, 168-unit hotel on the lot, and the plan was approved the following year. Chun received $65 million in construction funding for the building in 2019, when he demolished the six-story property that once stood in its place, PincusCo reported.

But Chun’s project stalled in December 2023, when lender Avana Capital filed a $33 million pre-foreclosure action at the site due to an outstanding $25.5 million on its $50 million loan, court records show.

The foreclosure case was settled in August, allowing Chun to hand over the property to Pro-H, Crain’s New York Business reported.

The proposed hotel at the site — set to be operated by Marriott — was expected to stand at 26 stories, making it the tallest modular hotel in New York City, higher than CitizenM’s 19-story hotel in the Lower East Side, according to Crain’s.

Considered an eco-friendly approach to developing, modular buildings involve constructing sections away from the building site then delivering them to the intended property. Other modular projects in New York include the 365-unit apartment building at 461 Dean Street, which at 32 stories is currently the nation’s tallest modular apartment building.

Now it’s Pro-H’s turn to take a crack at modular construction, after completing residential development projects at 881 Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and at 1042 Atlantic Avenue in Crown Heights, where a 17-story tower is underway, Crain’s reported.

And Pro-H plans to build a residential condo on the Avenue of the Americas site, with construction expected to start in the spring, The Real Deal reported.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.