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$75M loan tied to Gramercy Park Hotel sells to anonymous buyer
RFR Realty-owned hotel was previously behind on rent payments
A $75 million loan tied to the Gramercy Park Hotel sold to an anonymous buyer.
JPMorgan Chase sold the debt, which has a maximum principal amount of $75 million, to RDAC 8 LLC, according to PincusCo. The loan is secured by the Gramercy Park Hotel.
Just last month, Artnet reported that the hotel’s owner, Aby Rosen’s RFR Holding, owes $900,000 in ground lease payments on the property. A notice on the hotel’s door at the time stated that if Rosen does not pay by Dec. 28, his hotel could face eviction. So far, no foreclosure actions have been filed, according to PincusCo.
RFR owns the hotel itself, but Solil Management, the firm that manages the estate of Sol Goldman, owns the land underneath. Rosen’s firm pays $5.3 million per year to lease the land.
Rosen bought the hotel with hotelier Ian Schrager in 2003. The two redeveloped the property, and Rosen took full ownership in 2010.
The hotel had closed its doors to guests at the onset of the pandemic, but Rosen recently said he offered rooms to his employees who live in the suburbs to avoid commuting to the office.
“I told everybody, ‘Guys, you want to stay Tuesday night or Wednesday? Be my guest. Breakfast is at 9. Then show up at the office when you feel like it,’ ” Rosen told Bloomberg News.
The Gramercy Park Hotel was built on the site where novelist Edith Wharton was born, played host to Humphrey Bogart’s wedding and was home to the young John F. Kennedy and his family. At one time, Babe Ruth was a regular at the hotel’s bar.
[PincusCo] — Keith Larsen