The conversion of the former Watson Hotel on W57th Street is picking up momentum — and we now have a clearer picture of what it may look like when it’s finished.
Rendering of the reimagined Watson Hotel as 316 residential apartments. Image: Yellowstone Real Estate Investments
Yellowstone Real Estate Investments has secured a $326 million construction loan from Barings to fund the redevelopment of 440 W57th Street, according to property records first reported by The Real Deal. The project would transform the former 600-room hotel — more recently a city migrant shelter — into 316 apartments across two residential towers.
Plans filed with the Department of Buildings reveal a cellar-level parking garage and amenities including an entertainment lounge, gaming room, pet playroom, fitness center and an indoor pool. Yellowstone’s filings also indicate the Watson’s famous rooftop outdoor pool will remain.
A new rendering, first published this month by New York Yimby, shows the building’s future street presence: a refreshed facade with tall window bays and a more modern look along the block between 9th and 10th Avenues.
As W42ST reported last year, the conversion can move forward as-of-right due to the building’s zoning history and location in the Special Clinton District — meaning it does not require the kind of public review process typical for large residential development in Hell’s Kitchen.
The Watson Hotel has been vacant since June 2025, when a contract with the city for use as a shelter expired. Photos: Catie Savage
Yellowstone bought the leasehold interest in the Watson in 2021 for $175 million, stepping in after BD Hotels defaulted on the debt. The deal is part of a broader play Yellowstone has been making in New York’s stressed hotel market: in 2023, the firm also purchased the $106 million senior loan on the New Yorker Hotel — effectively taking a control position through the debt.
Yellowstone is also pursuing a nearby office-to-residential conversion at 1730 Broadway, a project filed as 422 apartments after the firm acquired the building from Blackstone for about $186 million, according to property records.
W42ST has reached out to Yellowstone for comment.