UWS Illegal Hotel Building To Change Hands For $44M, Report Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — An Upper West Side building that was at the center of an illegal hotel sting will change hands now that the previous owner has settled a lawsuit with the city, according to reports.

Hotelier Hank Fried will sell the Marrakesh Hotel building on Broadway and West 103rd Street to the Toll Brothers development company for $44 million, real estate publication The Real Deal first reported. Fried will use money from the sale to fund real estate purchases, according to the report.

The sale was announced following Fried's decision to settle a lawsuit with the city, which first sued Fried in February of 2017 for violating short-term rental laws by listing rooms at the Marrakech Hotel on sites like Expedia, Kayak and Orbitz. The settlement prevents Fried from using the building as a hotel and carries a six-figure fine.

Fried previously filed plans in March to demolish a large portion of the Upper West Side building. The project would tear down all of the building except the first floor, according to plans filed with the city Department of Buildings. With the new sale announced, it's unclear if Fried ever intended to go through with the project. The hotelier had filed similar plans with the city in 2012, but the project never materialized, and the site is subject to a stop-work order due to the building's operation as an illegal hotel, according to DOB records.

Toll Brothers' plans for the site are unclear.

Read the full Real Deal report here.