Spark Hotels pays $39.9M to Lam Group for hotel in Grand Central

Ohio-based Spark Hotels through the entity Big Apple W 37th, LLC paid $39.9 million to Lam Group through the entity Ny 29 West LLC for the Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites New York Manhattan hotel building (H3) at 21 West 37th Street in Grand Central, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on May 27, 2026 and was recorded on June 8, 2026. The property has 34,690 square feet of built space and 12,703 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 47,400 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,148 and the price per buildable square foot is $840 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The seller bought the property on November 1, 2006, for $6.5 million. The signatory for Lam Group was Jeffrey Lam . The signatory for Spark Hotels was Bhavesh Lad . The contract date was February 18, 2026.

Prior sales, articles and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Spark Hotels had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller Lam Group had not purchased any other properties and sold two properties in two transactions for a total of $8.3 million over the same time period. The former owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Raymond Lam, head officer and Kaina Marte, agent. The business entities are Ny 29 West Llc and Ny 29 West Llc. The 34,690-square-foot property generated revenue of $8.8 million or $255 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The hotel building in Grand Central has 34,690 square feet of built space and 12,703 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 47,400 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 32 feet and is 98 feet deep with a total lot size of 3,160 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $15 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $150 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on September 6, 2012. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Grand Central, The majority, or 83 percent of the 44.4 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 8 percent of the space. In sales, Grand Central has the 5th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.3 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Grand Central is the 5th most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 12.2 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 27 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 32 commercial properties representing 779,143 square feet of the 1,281,796 square feet. The largest owner is Jay Suites, followed by Rosen Equities and then Hilson Management.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 65,961 square feet. It is a 200-unit, 65,961 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by William Obeid with plans filed July 19, 2013 and permitted July 12, 2018.

The majority, or 76 percent of the 1.3 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 18 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Lam Group owned at least 11 commercial properties with 192 residential units in New York City with 1,432,846 square feet and a PincusCo-determined asset value of $1.3 billion. The portfolio has $836.6 million in debt, with top three lenders as Shanghai Commercial Bank, H.I.G. Capital, and Deutsche Bank respectively. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 69 percent of the 1,432,846 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with elevator properties next occupying 27 percent of the space. The bulk, or 81 percent of the built space, is in Manhattan, with Brooklyn next at 18 percent of the space.

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