Back in June of 2015, Sam Chang’s Great Neck, N.Y.-based McSam Hotel Group disclosed plans to incorporate a portion of the façade of the six-story Christ Church, at 334-344 West 36th Street in the Garment District, into their planned hotel redevelopment. Now, a rendering of the project has been revealed by the New York Post. The latest building permits indicate a 19-story, 386-key hotel is in the works, which is somewhat scaled-down compared to early filings that listed as many as 566 rooms. It will encompass 132,210 square feet and is being designed by SoHo-based Gene Kaufman Architect. Unfortunately, the six-story parish house portion of the church is in the process of being demolished. It’s expected to be rebuilt with pre-fabricated materials. Guest amenities include a fitness center, meeting rooms, a ballroom, laundry facilities, a restaurant and bar, and storage for 12 bicycles.
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It looks from the rendering like they’re trying to keep a bit of the appearance of Christ Church, but I would so prefer that they’d find a way to actually build their hotel to incorporate the Church itself. Perhaps it wasn’t possible. Perhaps they just felt that it was so gothic looking, guests might be creeped out and not want to stay there. I’m glad they kept some of the gothic looking windows at the 2nd floor.