Fred Ohebshalom’s Empire Management Avoids Foreclosure at NoMad Hotel
By Isabelle Durso February 7, 2025 1:00 pm
reprints
Fred Ohebshalom’s Empire Management has avoided an impending foreclosure at its NoMad hotel at 250 Fifth Avenue.
The owner refinanced the property with Columbia Pacific and an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners taking over the $82 million distressed loan on the property from Madison Realty Capital, according to The Real Deal, which first reported the news.
Madison Realty — which purchased the loan with Maguire Capital and Newbond Holdings last year from Santander Bank — initiated foreclosure actions against Empire in New York State Supreme Court in August after the landlord failed to make monthly payments on several loans tied to the property and went into default in March, as Commercial Observer previously reported.
KSL declined to comment, while spokespeople for Empire and Madison Realty did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ohebshalom purchased the building on the corner of West 28th Street and Fifth Avenue in 1978, TRD reported. The 21-suite boutique hotel is two blocks north of Madison Square Park.
Soon after Empire closed its initial loan agreement with Santander in August 2019, Ohebshalom converted the property into a 23-story, 90,000-square-foot hotel called The Fifth Avenue Hotel.
“This successful financing underscores The Fifth Avenue Hotel’s outstanding quality and is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence, service and creativity for our valued guests,” a spokesperson for the hotel told CO.
“We are confident The Fifth Avenue Hotel, in partnership with its owner and exclusive operator Flâneur Hospitality, is well positioned for continued success and innovation as we deliver an unsurpassed guest experience in the heart of Manhattan,” the spokesperson added.
And while Empire has escaped foreclosure at the NoMad hotel, the landlord still has $310.7 million in debt with lenders Barclays, Santander and New York Community Bank throughout its portfolio, PincusCo reported.
Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.
