Developer Buys Former UWS Hotel For $15M From Controversial Owner

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A major development company just bought an Upper West Side building that used to serve as the site of the Broadway Hotel & Hostel, which was owned by the controversial neighborhood hotelier Hank Freid.

Klosed Properties, based out of Long Island, bought the seven-story building at 2651-2657 Broadway (101st Street) from Freid for $15.5 million.

The building also has an alternate address of 230 West 101st Street.

Real Estate Weekly was the first publication to report on the deal.

The Upper West Side building is currently 96 percent vacant and houses five Single Room Occupancy (SRO) tenants, reported Real Estate Weekly. The purchase also includes 14,300 square feet of air rights above the building.

It is not clear what will happen to these tenants.

Klosed Properties did not immediately return Patch's request for comment.

Freid has owned the building since 1973.

The notorious landlord has been accused of converting three buildings in the neighborhood, including 230 West 101st Street, into illegal hotels.

Most notably the Marrakech Hotel at 2686-2690 Broadway on West 103rd Street.

That building is currently being demolished after a lawsuit filed in 2017 by the city sought to force Freid to cease operations at the hotel due to the city's claim that renting rooms to tourists violated the 2010 Multiple Dwelling Law requiring buildings with an SRO classification to be used for permanent housing only.

• Read More: Demolition Permits Filed For Remainder Of Controversial UWS Hotel

The court battle dragged on for years, before Freid eventually settled with the city, agreeing to end all non-permanent occupancy at the location and paying the city $274,000.

Not soon after the settlement, Freid sold the Upper West Side property to the Toll Brothers construction company in August 2019 for $44 million.

In terms of what Klosed Properties wants to do with the building on the corner of West 101st Street, the Managing Principal Steven Kashanian told Real Estate Weekly the following.

"With the Upper West Side being one of the most sought-after residential enclaves in New York City, we recognized the value of repositioning the property as a Class A residential building and acted fast," Kashanian told the publication.

Other employees of the developer also told Real Estate Weekly that there is interest in “upgrading the retail to gain strong market rents.”

There are currently three retail tenants in the building:

• Flor de Mayo
• Verizon
• Hudson Dry Cleaning