Sean MacPherson bought another hotel.
The man behind Hotel Chelsea and The Bowery expands his empire.
Hello everyone. I’ve really enjoyed reading all of the responses to the newsletter yesterday…..
Today’s letter includes: A conversation with Sean MacPherson about his new West Village hotel project, "Corporate Merch As Market Indicator,” Vanity Fair layoff controversy, and Daniel Humm news from the Feed Me Tip Line.
Earlier this summer, a reader tipped me off to a West Village community board meeting during which Sean MacPherson (The Bowery Hotel, Hotel Chelsea) applied for a transfer of a liquor license at 103 Waverly Place, AKA The Washington Square Hotel. After looking into public records (The Greenwich Hotel’s Ira Drukier was listed on the license alongside MacPherson) and speaking to a few friends, I learned that MacPherson was looking to buy the hotel.
This morning on the phone, he confirmed the purchase. “I didn't intentionally set out to do this,” he told me. “But The Marlton and The Chelsea, in particular, are important historic downtown hotels. They have this illustrious list of cultural icons that have stayed there—Bob Dylan, The Stones. The Washington Square Hotel is on that shortlist of important downtown hotels. So when it became available, I was super excited. We moved in on it immediately.”