Skip to Content
CityRealty Logo

New Developments in the News

APRIL 11, 2011

New bills passed to create greener roofs on city buildings; Chelsea Hotel sold for $80 million to mystery bidder.

City council has passed three bills that would update the city’s building code to make new roofs more energy-efficient. Part of a larger environmentally-focused initiative, the new bills modify the existing code to require that roof materials are more reflective, absorbing less heat in the summer, to allow solar collectors and their supporting equipment to be excluded from buildings’ height limitations and to add heat and power systems to the list of allowable rooftop structures.

After months of speculation over which celebrity developer might acquire the Hotel Chelsea at 222 West 23rd Street, the landmark property, subject of many a tale of 20th-century bohemian culture, is reportedly under contract to be sold for upwards of $80 million. The unnamed buyer is one among a crowded field of suitors that, at one time or another, included property mogul Aby Rosen and pop singer Marc Anthony as well as headline-grabbing hoteliers Ian Schrager (who has said he’s no longer interested in the historic hotel) and Andre Balazs.