A novel addition has emerged in Port Richmond, New York City, with the advent of a newly minted hotel at 109 Port Richmond Ave., revealed on March 14, 2025. As part of the ongoing series ‘What’s Happening Staten Island?’, this development joins an array of construction projects and dynamic initiatives dotting the borough. Port Richmond appears to be transforming into an intriguing tourist magnet, led by developers launching not just one, but two attractive hotels along Port Richmond Avenue. Impressively, the second hotel is perched less than 200 yards from the one that opened in the previous year.
These developments, however, have piqued local curiosity, leading to a sense of unease within the Port Richmond community. Taking note of these changes is the local civic group, the Port Richmond North Shore Alliance, formerly recognized as Port Richmond Strong, which has been closely monitoring this burgeoning hotel boom. Leading the organization, Mario Buonviaggio expressed fears on Wednesday regarding the ultimate fate of these hotels—they could eventually be repurposed into city homeless shelters.
Buonviaggio articulated the group’s disquiet over the potential misdirection. He expressed their disapproval of buildings initially proposed as hotels, which instead might never fulfill their promised functional use; instead finding themselves converted into potential homeless shelters. This practice, he argued, misleads the community and discourages civic trust.
The Port Richmond North Shore Alliance initially came together in 2018, in response to an article by Advance/SILive.com that released information concerning formulation plans for the hotel at 109 Port Richmond Ave. During a Community Board 1 meeting on March 11, Buonviaggio conveyed his apprehensions, further fueling the ongoing discussion.
Further inquiries into the ownership of the 109 Port Richmond Ave. site reveal Japrindal Sandhu, a Nassau County resident, as a connected figure according to the New York Department of State business records. Despite this, the hotel under construction at 109 Port Richmond Ave., and its cousin at 37 Port Richmond Ave., were reported by Advance/SILive.com in 2020 to be the handiwork of yet another player—Amritpal Sandhu.
We find the name Amritpal Sandhu turning up again in the city Department of Building’s construction files where he is listed as the owner of the 109 Port Richmond Ave. site. By connecting the dots using Richmond County Clerk’s Office property records for 37 Port Richmond Ave., we see the same ownership described as found in the Department of State records for the new hotel.
Looking into the transaction history of the pair of properties, a pattern emerges. Both properties changed hands within a few days of each other back in March 2017. This echo in purchasing dates provides more signposts hinting at a deeper connection.
Records hint toward a connection between the two Port Richmond Avenue locations and the Sandhu Group. Despite attempts to reach the organization for a statement, no response was provided before the article’s publication. The commercial real estate company, based in Nassau County, has earned itself a questionable reputation in communities across the five boroughs due — primarily for its involvement in the city’s habit of repurposing hotels into homeless shelters.
In 2021, Assembly Member William Colton (D-Brooklyn) highlighted misgivings about the Sandhu Group’s practices. Following the company’s acquisition of a property in his Bath Beach district, he criticized their tendency to purchase properties, construct hotels in otherwise unexpected locations, only to lease tiny rooms to the city at steep rates to house the homeless—conditions that, in his view, didn’t put the welfare of the homeless first.
Despite the worries, the Sandhu group didn’t go on to build a shelter at the Bath Beach site, and 37 Port Richmond Ave. at present is functioning as a hotel. However, fears persist, fueled by the precedent set during ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s tenure of transforming hotels into homeless shelters. A widespread practice, it spiked up in multiple city spots, while owners harvested handsome profits via city contracts.
Hotel shelters grounded to a halt under ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio, with the last establishment shutting its doors at the end of 2021. But the influx of over 200,000 migrants into the five boroughs necessitated the revitalization of such facilities under Mayor Eric Adams’ tenure.
In the midst of all this, between 2022 and 2023, the Sandhu Group acquired three Travis hotels which the city converted for use as migrant shelters. However, with the easing of the migrant crisis in recent months, Adams’ administration has launched the process of closing some of these emergency locations, including one of the Travis structures.
While a complete reversion to hotel shelters for the city’s conventional homeless population hasn’t occurred under Mayor Adams, the potential for such a pivot by a new city administration in the future remains in place. This possibility casts uncertainty over the future use of properties such as those on Port Richmond Avenue, which are both legally established as hotels.
Despite the undercurrent of apprehension, the leader of the Port Richmond North Shore Alliance, Buonviaggio, voiced hope on Wednesday that the Port Richmond Avenue locations stay as originally envisioned. He re-emphasized his wish for the hotels to successfully reinforce Port Richmond’s appeal as a tourist hotspot.
Buonviaggio continues to advocate for the success of Port Richmond by promoting it as a popular tourist destination. He expressed, ‘We’re trying to make it succeed as a civic, trying to promote [it],’ embodying the ongoing efforts of local organizations to support and guide the growth and prosperity of their community.
The nuanced interplay of tourism development, community advocacy, and the looming issue of homeless shelters emerges in layers across Port Richmond Avenue. As the story continues to unfold, it showcases the complexities and challenges inherent in city planning and the multifaceted narratives of life in Staten Island.