MIDTOWN — Bohemian hopes have been dashed by an $80 million deal that will sell the Hotel Chelsea to developer Joseph Chetrit, the Real Deal reported.
The legendary building at 222 W. 23rd St. has become a memorial to the neighborhood's past as an artist's haven, with a list of residents including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Janis Joplin.
Despite rumors that the hotel was closing for reservations over the weekend, die-hard fans and longtime residents still held out hope that the sale would fall through.
It didn't.
It was finalized on Monday at 5:30 p.m, brokered by Eastdil Secured’s Douglas Harmon, the Real Deal reported.
Chetrit's plans are not clear. However, according to the New York Observer, the building will eventually return to its function as a hotel — albeit with a different design. Gene Kaufman, an architect who often works on chain hotels, has been brought in for the redesign.
The Chelsea first opened in 1884 as apartments and became a hotel in 1905. Since that time, the hotel website claims, it was “the birthplace of creative modern art and the home of bad behavior.”
In 1953, former tenant Dylan Thomas died of alcohol poisoning there, and famous resident, Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols, is rumored to have stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen to death there in 1978.
While long-term residents remain, the hotel has closed for reservations to prepare for the upcoming renovations.
Management of the Hotel Chelsea did not return calls for comment.
