Moskovits’ Williamsburg Hotel Sells at Auction for $96M
By Mark Hallum January 13, 2023 12:58 pm
reprints![The Williamsburg Hotel in Brooklyn](https://commercialobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/01/GettyImages-1288680424_WEB.jpg?quality=80&w=755)
Almost two years after Toby Moskovits’ Heritage Equity Partners filed for bankruptcy on its flagship development, The Williamsburg Hotel, the property has been sold at auction for $96 million.
Quadrum Development Corporation won the 147-room hotel at 96 Wythe Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Thursday, and a hearing to approve the sale of the property is scheduled for Jan. 17, Bloomberg reported.
Heritage and Quadrum did not respond to a request for comment.
The proceeds from the auction will likely go toward Heritage’s debt on the hotel, amounting to between $50 million to $100 million.
Heritage bought the site between North 10th and North 11th streets for the eight-story hotel in 2012 for $4.85 million. Construction was completed in 2017.
The hotel struggled with low occupancy rates and revenues per available room, an important lodging-industry benchmark, and Heritage defaulted on its $68 million loan on the property from Benefit Street Partners in 2019, CO previously reported.
As far back as March 2019, Heritage was entertaining bids from a number of potential buyers for the hotel, which included Brookfield Property Partners, with at least one of the offers reaching about $135 million, CO reported at the time.
No deal ever went through, and Heritage nearly lined up a $76 million refinancing from CREMAC Commercial Finance, but the bridge loan never closed and Heritage filed for bankruptcy on the hotel in February 2021.
The United Kingdom-based Quadrum operates many of the hotels in its portfolio under the brand name of Arlo, such as the Arlo SoHo at 231 Hudson Street.
Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.