Mack Real Estate Takes Control of Manhattan Hotel Portfolio
By Nicholas Rizzi March 8, 2021 11:00 am
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Developer Mack Real Estate Group took control of a seven-property Manhattan hotel portfolio after it foreclosed on the owners, property records show.
Mack paid transfer taxes on a $316 million value to acquire the portfolio — which consists of 1,087 rooms — from owners Cindat USA and Hersha Hotels & Resorts, The Real Deal first reported.
A spokesperson for Mack declined to comment. Spokespeople for Cindat and Hersha did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The acquisition comes months after Cindat and Hersha defaulted on Mack’s $85 million mezzanine loan for the portfolio, which triggered a Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) foreclosure auction on Jan. 21, TRD reported.
Cindat and Hersha acquired the portfolio for $571.4 million in 2016 and renovated each property the year after, as Commercial Observer previously reported. The portfolio includes Candlewood Suites in Times Square, Hampton Inn Chelsea, Hampton Inn Madison Square Garden, Hampton Inn Times Square South, Holiday Inn Express Times Square, Holiday Inn Express Wall Street and the Holiday Inn Wall Street.
The joint venture tried to raise $50 million in preferred equity for the portfolio in September, but the deal appears to never have closed, according to property records.
The hotel industry has suffered during the coronavirus pandemic, which wiped out most travel and plunged occupancy numbers to historic lows.
Hotels around the city have closed or filed for bankruptcy in recent months, with some shuttered ones rumored to be redeveloped into office properties. Last month, flex office provider The Yard — part of another industry hampered by the pandemic — announced plans to turn the closed Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Herald Square into one of its locations.
