Having a Stab at Running a Hotel

New York hotel where Sid Vicious’ girlfriend was stabbed to death sold for £200 million

If walls could tell stories, those at the Hotel Chelsea on 222 West 23^rd Street in Chelsea, New York could produce an entire series. The property has just been sold, The Real Deal revealed, for £203.8 million ($250 million or €225.6 million) and it will be redeveloped as a combination of a hotel and condominiums.

Those next to have a stab at running this historic hotel – where Sid Vicious allegedly murdered his girlfriend Nancy Spungen in 1978 (he died of a heroin overdose before being brought to trial) and Arthur C. Clarke wrote 2001: A Space Odyssey – are said to be Richard Born of BD Hotels and Ira Drukier and Sean MacPherson (the owner of, amongst other things, The Bowery Hotel and the Waverly Inn). The building has been in turmoil since 2011 as, after being purchased by a developer named Joseph Chetrit, many rent-stabilised tenants were evicted and the hotel closed.

51 tenants remain in the property – which was constructed in 1884 – currently and of them, Mr Born remarked:

“We believe that we’ve made peace with virtually every tenant. There are maybe two or three tenants who are still having issues”.

We’re dealing with a monumental city landmark. We [wish to] cause as little inconvenience as possible [during renovation work]”.

Past residents have included Russell Brand, Quentin Crisp, Bob Dylan, Ethan Hawke, Jimi Hendrix, Dennis Hopper, Eddie Izzard, Stanley Kubrick, Lillie Langtry, Madonna, Bette Midler, Elaine Stritch, Dylan Thomas, Mark Twain, Uma Thurman and Gore Vidal and given its proximity to Pier 54, the White Star Line dock where the Titanic was due to dock, a number of survivors of the vessel’s disastrous 1912 voyage, also stayed there.