Blackstone Group has sold the London Hotel in Midtown for $382 million, or $678,000 per room, to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority. The Hyatt Times Square and the Marriott Edition on Madison Square Park are also owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, which is expected to retain the current management team.
The sale of the 54-storey property includes a payment of $194 million by a buyer, and the assumption of the $154 million mortgage.
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority also assumed the ground-lease position owned by the Sol Goldman estate and will pay $157 million through 2136. A team made up of Roy March, Larry Wolfe and Mark Schoenholtz represented the Blackstone Group in dealing with the sale, as reported by the New York Post.
The 563-room London Hotel at 151 W. 54th St. in between Sixth and Seventh Avenue, was refurbished by Blackstone after buying it from the Lehman Bros.
According to Commercial Observer, when the news broke about Blackstone Group's plan to buy the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village for $5.3 billion, Blackstone had already sold the London Hotel in Midtown for $382 million to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The sale of the 54-storey London Hotel at 151 West 54th Street between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue of the Americas was closed on Nov. 11.
According to the report, ADIA also acquired the ground lease of the building, owned by the estate of Sol Goldman, and will pay $157 million for it. ADIA paid $194 million directly for the hotel and acquired $154 million through mortgage on the building, according to property records. It was not clear how the remaining $34 million will be paid.
Based on the property records, Blackstone Group paid $193 million for the London Hotel in 2005. On Oct. 20, it was reported that the Blackstone Group and Ivanhoe Cambridge were in contract to purchase the Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village. The two companies are expected to close the deal on the 11,232-unit complex by the end of the year.
