Starwood Capital looks to smash record with Baccarat sale

Investment firm aims to sell hotel portion of West 53rd Street property for $2M per room

From left: Baccarat Hotel & Residences rendering and lobby design
From left: Baccarat Hotel & Residences rendering and lobby design

Starwood Capital made headlines last year by asking $60 million for the penthouse at the Baccarat Hotel & Residences in New York. Now, it’s looking to sell the hotel portion of the development at a cost that works out to a record-breaking $2 million per room.

That price would beat the per-room price record that the Park Hyatt at One57 is expected to set when it opens in August, according to the New York Post.

Starwood has been on the low down in seeking buyers for the 114-room luxury lodging at 20 West 53rd Street, reports the Post. The $228 million sale would leave Starwood as manager of the hotel through its affiliate, SH Group.

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Such a deal would set Starwood up to make money on the property before the hotel opens for business. It would also position the firm to partner with the buyer to embark on new Baccarat-branded ventures elsewhere, according to the Post. Super-rich investors and sovereign wealth funds are among the prospective bidders, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Post.

“There is so much yield-focused capital from all over the world looking at hotel opportunities and this is a great time to be a seller or a buyer as we are at an incredible sweet spot,” Daniel Lesser of LW Hospitality Advisors told the Post. [NYP]Tom DiChristopher