The hotel, which was the city’s tallest building when it was first constructed, was declared a landmark in 1966 and a New York city cultural preservation site which was listed on America’s National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
Paul Brounstein, a shareholder and board member of Chelsea 23rd St Corp said: “The building board announced its intent to sell with hope that a new owner will re-energise and revitalise the Chelsea Hotel.
“It is time to let a new owner, with perhaps some new innovative ideas take over.”
Of course one can only hope that whoever the new owners are the energy of the venue can be re constituted, but frankly this author has his concerns. Will the hotel become a parking depot for those with cash to burn ingesting the legacy of the foundation with nary an iota of aesthetic or artistic virtue? After all, what artist, writer can really afford to live in a venue like the Chelsea Hotel unless they are really making it and then again even if they are making it one needs the cash to reinvest into other projects and ones base survival, something that one has to wonder is an applicable option to those of us not in the position to afford the Chelsea’s ominous rates. I did hear that Mr Basset was paying $7000 a month for his penthouse abode and that was enough to rattle me and the chipmunks I keep in my pockets.
It’s inevitable. The baby boomers will slowly be selling off their property for peanuts, to developers who have no sense of history and legacy. The only possible way to save the original structure is to commodify its legend into a sort of theme park for kids who have no idea who Sid & Nancy are (and don’t give a shit) – i.g: CBGB by Varvatos. At this point, with all the underage flashing teeny boppers hogging headlines, Don Hill’s might as well be owned and operated by Hot Topic and open it up to tweens.