Strategic Hotels & Resorts Secures $85M CMBS Refi for Essex House Hotel

Famed New York City hotel JW Marriott Essex House is getting a fresh infusion of cash thanks to a refinance secured by parent company Strategic Hotels & Resorts, public records show. 

The $85 million loan for the building, at 160 Central Park South, is part of a $1.58 billion commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) transaction for nine of Strategic’s hotels, per Bloomberg data, led by Bank of America (BAC) and Deutsche Bank (DB). The deal closed Sept. 30 but was made public Friday, according to property records.

Deutsche Bank and Bank of America declined to comment. Strategic Hotels could not be reached for comment. 

A Morningstar DBRS presale report on the CMBS deal, SHR Trust 2024-LXRY, shows the $1.58 billion transaction covers 4,957 keys across five states plus Washington, D.C. Four properties comprising 2,374 keys — including Essex House — are Marriott properties; three properties operate under the InterContinental brand; one property is part of the AccorHotels family; and one is a Four Seasons hotel.  The hotels were all built between 1904 and 2001, with a weighted average renovation year of 2024.

As for Essex House specifically, this is the second loan of such size that Strategic locked down at the hotel, according to PincusCo., which first reported the news. In 2022, Strategic Hotels secured  a $97.75 million refinancing with Goldman Sachs (GS) for Essex House. 

The hotel — which has 321,136 square feet of built space and 427 rooms — has a long history as a city landmark. 

Construction on the building began in 1929, just one day after the stock market crash known as Black Tuesday, according to the Historic Hotels of America. 

The development moved slowly but the doors eventually opened in 1931, and the following year the famous red neon “Essex House” sign was added to the top of the 42-story luxury condominium and hotel. 

Amanda Schiavo can be reached at aschiavo@commercialobserver.com.