[
EVG file photo from June]
It looks like the end might finally be here for The Whitehouse Hotel, the hostel/flophouse combo on the Bowery, which has been on Deathwatch for years now.
A sign on the front door at 338-340 Bowery between Great Jones and Bond points out that the hotel is no longer accepting reservations after tomorrow... and that they are "'temporarily closing down" …
There's nothing on the hotel
website indicating a closure (other than that when you go to book a room, there aren't any availabilities through next September).
A little recent history.
The Commercial Observer reported in early May that hotelier Sam Chang had the property (officially called
Bowery's Whitehouse Hotel and Hostel of New York) in contract to an unknown buyer for $12 million. (The owner's name hasn't hit public documents just yet.)
At that time, we noted that
DOB records indicate new plans for a 9-floor hotel with a proposed 68 rooms. (Total cost of the project is listed at $5 million.) Michael Lisowski of
Otte Architecture is the architect of record.
It's not clear if the Whitehouse would be demolished for the new hotel, or if new floors would be dropped on top of the existing structure.
According to the DOB, the city
disapproved the hotel plans on June 10.
In 2011, the hostel spruced itself up to appeal to the backpacking set. (For $45,
guests can stay in a tiny room where the walls don't go up to the ceiling.)
The days of the SRO on the Bowery are winding down, of course. The owner of the Sunshine Hotel
recently announced plans to downsize and convert the second and third floors of the SRO at 241 Bowery into commercial lofts. Meanwhile,
the Ace Hotel is taking over the former Salvation Army-owned building at 225 Bowery.
Previously on EV Grieve:
More tenant meetings for White House residents; plus the bed bugs will be exterminated
Another round of plans to convert the Whitehouse Hostel on the Bowery into a 9-floor hotel
