McSam Hotel Group Secures $48M Construction Loan for JFK Airport

Hotelier Sam Chang’s journey toward retirement may have come to a halt, as he’s moving forward with a new hotel development near Queens’ John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Chang’s McSam Hotel Group, through the entity JFK Fiona 34, has secured a $48 million construction loan from lender Webster Bank for the development of a 351-key hotel at 143-02 135th Avenue in South Jamaica, records show.

Chang signed for McSam, while Michael Savarese, a managing director at Webster, signed for the bank, according to records.

Savarese and a spokesperson for McSam did not immediately respond to requests for comment. PincusCo first reported the news.

McSam sold the former JFK Hilton Hotel to Slate Property Group and RiseBoro Community Partnership in December 2023 for $64 million, with the buyers planning to convert the hotel into permanently affordable housing, as Commercial Observer previously reported.

Slate and RiseBoro launched leasing for their new 318-unit apartment building in April, while McSam kept part of the site for his new hotel, which will be built adjacent to the supportive housing property.

McSam is planning a 14-story, 351-key Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotel on the 16,553-square-foot site, according to zoning documents for the project.

News of the project comes after Chang offloaded the nearby former 201-key Holiday Inn at 154-71 Brookville Boulevard in February to Liberty One Group for $42 million, as CO previously reported.

The Queens property was just one of many hotel properties in New York City that Chang has sold off as part of his impending retirement, including two Long Island City, Queens, hotels, and one in Manhattan’s Financial District.

But it seems Chang may be taking a break from his retirement plans with his latest project, which comes during a busy time for hotel developments near JFK.

That includes Chartwell Hospitality’s Marriott New York JFK Airport Hotel, which just secured $100 million of permanent financing in April.

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