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THE LATEST SIGN OF development on the western reaches of 34th Street is a budget hotel to be built between Eighth and Ninth avenues.
Developer Jules Demchick has targeted a plot of land that was to have been, to great fanfare, a Price Club outlet. The warehouse chain paid $9 million for the site in late 1995 to build its first Manhattan superstore. But Costco Cos., which merged with the chain, put the property back on the market after concluding it couldn't build a profitable store there.
Enter Mr. Demchick, a low-key developer who has had success in other parts of the city with a series of complicated sites. He developed the tall-and-skinny Barnes & Noble store on Union Square, and is now working on a massive movie theater/retail complex on Second Avenue between 30th and 33rd streets.
Mr. Demchick declines to comment on his deal with Costco, but sources familiar with the transaction say that he tied up the property with a long-term lease--an arrangement that could make it easier to iron out the remaining zoning wrinkles.
Mr. Demchick confirms that he intends to build a budget hotel...