Meadow Partners pays $50M for Midtown hotel

Investment company hires new management firm, plans renovation costing up to $10 million

From left: Timothy Yantz, Jeffrey Kaplan, interior of hotel a century ago, 42 West 35th Street
From left: Timothy Yantz, Jeffrey Kaplan, interior of hotel a century ago, 42 West 35th Street

The real estate investment firm Meadow Partners purchased a 132-key Midtown hotel for $50 million from long-time owner Jeport Hotel, city records published today reveal. The new owner plans to spend up to $10 million renovating the structure with a distinctive undulating facade, to reposition it as a four-star boutique hotel.

Midtown-based Meadow Partners, headed by managing partner Jeffrey Kaplan and partner Timothy Yantz, hired the Virginia-based firm Interstate Hotels & Resorts to manage the building, located at 42 West 35th Street, between Fifth and Sixth avenues.

The seller was a company called Jeport Hotel, headed by Edward Portnof, its president. The company acquired the property in 1976, city record show. Meadow Partners signed a contract in June to buy the 55,517-square-foot building. The sale closed September 29, city records show.

The new owner removed the Comfort Inn flag and renamed the 13-story building Hotel 35 Herald Square.

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The renovation is expected to cost between $8 million and $10 million, a source close to the deal said. Meadow Partners and Interstate Hotels did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The purchase was financed through a $43 million loan from the Greenwich-based Jeffries LoanCore.

Meadow has been snapping up properties in New York City over the past year. In February the firm acquired its first hotel, through a long-term ground lease for the 135-room Bedford Hotel at 118 East 40th Street. This summer, the firm closed on the $52 million purchase of a Williamsburg rental building at 100 South 4th Street, co-developed by murdered real estate investor Menachem Stark.

Meadow acquired the 35th Street hotel using its Meadow Real Estate Fund III, which has a maximum cap of $500 million, but a target for $400 million, an industry source said.

The building first opened in 1903 as the Gregorian Hotel, which offered luxury in a boutique size, according to the history website Daytonian in Manhattan.