Rockpoint JV sells two foreclosed-upon NYC hotels for $300m

A partnership led by Boston-based Rockpoint Group has sold two New York hotels, which had been foreclosed upon, for $295 million. 

A report from Crain’s New York Business reveals that a venture consisting of Rockpoint, Atlas Capital Group and Procaccianti Group sold the Flatotel on 135 West 52nd Street to a joint venture between New York-based developers Clipper Equity and Chetrit Group for $180 million. The Rockpoint venture also sold the Alex Hotel at 205 East 45th Street in New York to Wyndham International, a hotel chain owned by The Blackstone Group, for $115 million.

The transactions solved troubled situations. According to data from Real Capital Analytics, the hotels previously had been owned by New York-based owner-operator The Alexico Group. However, Alexico allegedly failed to make interest payments on the loans for the properties beginning in January 2009 and was notified of the default in April of that year.

Alexico ultimately lost control of both hotels in April 2011 after the judge in the bankruptcy proceedings appointed a receiver. The Rockpoint venture then purchased the loans on the assets from Anglo Irish Bank. In January 2012, the judge granted permission to move forward with foreclosure proceedings, which the Rockpoint-led venture initiated later that year.

The purchase of the Flatotel isn’t the first time that Clipper and Chetrit have teamed up to acquire New York properties. In fact, various media organizations are reporting that the two firms currently are in the midst of buying Sony Plaza at 550 Madison Avenue for a whopping $1.1 billion. Other deals between Clipper and Chetrit include the November purchase of the former Hotel Bossert at 86-98 Montague Street in Brooklyn for $81 million and the August 2011 acquisition of Hotel Chelsea at 222 West 23rd Street in New York for $82.5 million.