CHELSEA — The historic Chelsea Hotel has been bought by a group planning to redevelop it into condos and a smaller inn.
BD Hotels co-founders Richard Born and Ira Drukier joined hotelier Sean MacPherson in buying the legendary lodge at 222 W. 23rd St., Born confirmed Tuesday.
The Real Deal reported that the group paid $250 million for the building, though Born said the figure was “not correct" while declining to provide the accurate sum.
BD Hotels started overseeing renovations at the hotel after acquiring a managing interest in July, the publication reported.
MacPherson is the man behind several Manhattan hotels including the Maritime, the Jane and the Ludlow.
“This is restoring a great iconic property in the city of New York,” Born told The Real Deal.
“We think Sean is the best person for the job.”
The iconic hotel has been home to many famous writers, musicians and actors including Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Mark Twain and William S. Burroughs.
Drukier recently signed an agreement with a longtime hotel tenant that will ensure poet and onetime resident Dylan Thomas’ apartment is preserved during renovations.
The hotel has changed hands several times and been the site of altercations between tenants, managers and owners since its board pushed longtime manager Stanley Bard out in 2007.
Born expects renovations at the hotel to wrap up by 2018, despite the fact that the city’s Department of Buildings recently issued a partial stop-work order “due to an inadequate tenant-protection plan,” The Real Deal reported.
“We believe that we’ve made peace with virtually every tenant,” he told the publication.
“There are maybe two or three tenants who are still having issues.”
