New Yorkers may soon be able to move into apartments in one of the more than 20 hotels that have been sold for conversion into residential condominiums.

In the first quarter, a number of hotels have changed hands. In January, the hotel operators and condominium developers Simon Elias and Izak Senhabar purchased the 176-room Mark Hotel at 25 E. 77th St. and Madison Avenue. They paid about $150 million, or about $850,000 a room, to the Mandarin Oriental Company. Anglo Irish Bank provided financing for the acquisition and renovation of the property into a condo hotel and residential condominiums. In December, the principals of Macklowe Properties, Harry and William Macklowe, purchased the headquarters of the Anti-Defamation League at 823 U.N. Plaza for about $100 million with plans to demolish the office building and convert it into residential condominiums. Later this quarter Macklowe Properties plans to buy the 495-room Swissotel, Drake New York at Park Avenue and East 56th Street for about $450 million, or $910,000 a room. It plans to demolish the building to make way for a 70-story mixed-use residential condominium.

The president of Macklowe, William Macklowe, said,”Some hotels are prime for conversion, will do well, and will continue to achieve strong pricing, ranging anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per square foot. I believe the market is evolving from the traditional amenity-packed pure play apartment house to the hotel serviced-based model. As the stock inventory of legacy apartments dwindles, certain of these hotel condominium conversions stand to benefit from the demonstrated demand.”

The regional manager of the Omni Hotels, Offer Nissenbaum, said,”While the going is good, I can expect certain other hotels to be sold for conversion. At a price of more than $900,000 a room, the Host Marriott chain received an offer, which they could not reject. For the right price any hotel property is available for sale. I would not be surprised if a number of boutique hotels which are owned by local management, may be sold for conversion this year.”

A number of hotels are expected to be sold this year, including the 172-room Beekman Tower Hotel at 3 Mitchell Place at the corner of East 49th Street and First Avenue, and the 254-room Shelburne Murray Hill at East 37th Street and Madison Avenue. Industry leaders expect that the Credit Suisse First Boston-owned Hotel Wales, at East 92nd Street and Madison Avenue, will be converted into residential condominiums.

The international head of the hospitality practice at Sonnenblick Goldman, Mark Gordon, said, “The conversion of hotels to residential that has occurred over the past three years has in part led to the strengthening of hotel values, which will ultimately result in fewer conversions going forward. We have seen hotel profitability in some cases more than double in the past 12 months as a result of the improvement in national economic conditions combined with a decrease in room supply, which has enabled owners to dramatically increase rates.”

Demolition has begun at the former 146-room Sheraton Russell Hotel at 45 ParkAve. and East 37th Street. The new owners, New Jersey-based SJP Properties and Prudential Financial, plan to build a residential condominium.

Three former hotels in Lower Manhattan are being converted into residential condominiums. The principal of Witkoff Properties, Steve Witkoff, and his partner, Giuseppe Cipriani, are marketing for sale the Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall St. A few blocks away, the former 78-room Cambridge Club at 56 Pine St. is being converted. Later this month, investor Joseph Moinian will be closing on the so-called Zeus portfolio of three office buildings at 509, 535, and 545 Fifth Ave. He is paying about $260 million to Emmes and Apollo Real Estate Advisors for the property. Mr. Moinian, who is planning a mixed-use hotel and residential tower near the site of the World Trade Center, is marketing for sale condominiums at another site, the Downtown Club, in the former landmark Downtown Athletic Club at 19 West St.

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This spring the first residents are expected to move into 110 CPS, the conversion of the former Intercontinental Hotel. The Intercontinental Group sold the 27-story, 208-room hotel in 2004 to Anbau Enterprises for $63.5 million, or $301,000 a room. A total of 63 cooperative units are for sale, which, like a condo, can be sold or sublet without board approval. Further north at 160 Central Park South, the new owners of the Essex House – Dubai Investment Group, which paid $440 million last September for the 606-room hotel portion – plan to convert about 90 rooms to condominiums. Construction is under way for one of the city’s most expensive residential condominiums at 15 Central Park West. According to the trade, 70% of the 103 residential condominiums at the Windsor Park in the former Helmsley Windsor at 100 W. 58th St. have been sold. The Chetrit Group purchased the former three-star 242-room hotel from the Helmsley Organization. Yitzchak Tessler and the Chetrit Group are converting it. Later this year, the Chetrit Group is expected to finish renovating the former 318-room Empire Hotel at West 68th Street and Columbus Avenue. The chairman of global brokerage at CB Richard Ellis, Stephen Siegel; his partner, Arnold Penner, and a group of investors expect to open Manhattan’s third P. J. Clarke’s in the hotel. Israel-based Brack Capital is in the process of converting to condos the former Olcott Hotel at 27 W. 72nd St., across from the Dakota and Central Park.

In December the first residents are expected to move into the Elad Properties conversion of the famed Plaza Hotel. A few blocks away at East 56th Street and Fifth Avenue is the St. Regis Hotel. Marketing is under way to sell either a 28-day condo ownership for a residence or total ownership of a condo in the classic hotel. If you have $10 million, you might want to buy half a floor at Gary Barnett’s Extell Investment conversion of the Stanhope Hotel, across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In December the sales office opened at the former Sutton Hotel at East 56th Street off First Avenue. Last June, Alchemy Partners purchased the Sutton for about $53 million. The founder and co-principal of Alchemy, Ken Horn, said sales have been brisk.The largest units are being sold at prices of more than $1,150 a square foot. Philadelphia-based Berwind Property Group is creating 65 condo residences in its renovation of the former 306-room Melrose Hotel New York, formerly the Barbizon Plaza Hotel, at 140 E. 63rd St. at the corner of Lexington Avenue. Contracts reportedly have been signed for one-third of the units.

The hotelier Ian Schrager and his partners, Aby Rosen and Michael Fuchs of RFR Realty, are renovating and adding to the 349-room Gramercy Park Hotel. Mr. Schrager, in a joint venture with S.L. Green Realty, is said to have plans to convert the top portion of 1 Madison Ave. into luxury residential condominiums and a hotel. Later this year,Mr.Rosen and Mr.Fuchs plan to begin construction of a mixed-use residential tower and luxury hotel on the former site of the YMCA at 610 Lexington Ave.

While most of these hotel properties have a good outlook for sales, many industry leaders – and I agree with them – see a weakening sales market going forward and adjustment in the selling prices of Manhattan condominium units.

Mr. Stoler is a television broadcaster and senior vice president at First America Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached at mstoler@firstam.com.