Sam Chang Revs Up Yet Again

So much for hitting the brakes.

Sam Chang, New York's hotelier for the common man, strikes again.

This week he filed an application with the Buildings Department to build a 25-story hotel at 54 West 36th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues, near Herald Square.

This will, of course, be the gazillionth hotel Mr. Chang has built in New York over the past few years - a pace The Real Deal in December 2006 dubbed "dizzying":

Christyne Nicholas, the city's tourism czar, estimated that Chang is building 3,000 out of the 5,000 rooms under construction in the city. An analysis by The Real Deal that looked at Chang's longer-term plans through 2008 found even more units in the pipeline -- some 5,900 units out of approximately 13,000 units planned in the city.

He told The Observer in December of 2007 that his goal was 50 new hotels in the five boroughs -- maybe more.

Mr. Chang bought this particular site in August 2006 for $15.2 million.