Andre Balazs and the Standard East Village
Andre Balazs unveiled his plans for revamping the Standard East Village hotel, the property formerly known as the Cooper Square Hotel he acquired and renamed last year. The Local East Village reported his biggest changes focused on the public spaces of the 21-story property at 25 Cooper Square near 5th Street. “The hotel failed,” Balazs said. “We bought it from bankruptcy. One reason was that the public spaces didn’t work.” [more]
The mezzanine lender that took over the Cooper Square Hotel in a debt restructuring deal late last year is now ready to unload the property. According to the Post, Westport Capital Partners has tapped Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies of Eastdil Secured to market the 21-story East Village hotel, which was built around an old tenement building at 27 Cooper Square and debuted in late 2008 after years of delays. It ran into financial trouble soon after, and last year, as restructuring talks were ongoing, the owners of the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand hotels had come close to purchasing the 145-room property but pulled out of the deal at the eleventh hour. Instead, Westport took control in a transaction valued at $70.9 million, The Real Deal reported at the time. [more]
The developers of the Cooper Square Hotel have handed the property over to mezzanine lender Westport Capital Partners as part of an “amicable” loan restructuring deal reached late last year, managing partner Klaus Ortlieb said.
The striking, 21-story East Village hotel, which was built around an old tenement building at 27 Cooper Square, debuted in late 2008 after years of delays. But it wasn’t long before the owners ran into financial trouble, and the following December, commercial lender WestLB filed to foreclose on $52 million in loans backed by the 145-room hotel. Restructuring talks had been ongoing since then.
Late last year, rumors had surfaced that the owners of the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand hotels were “very close” to purchasing the Cooper Square Hotel outright, but were later squelched by Ortlieb and his team, who released a statement at the time asserting that the hotel would not be purchased by an outside party. [more]
[Updated 3:52 p.m.] The Cooper Square Hotel, which was rumored earlier this month to be “very close” to a sale to the owners of both the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand, “will not be purchased by an outside party,” a representative for the hotel told The Real Deal in an e-mail this morning. “The hotel [at 25 Cooper Square and Bowery] will continue to operate under managing partner Klaus Ortlieb and his team,” the rep said, adding that a new restaurant is in the works, so stay tuned for an announcement after the New Year. A representative for the Grand hotels declined to comment. TRD
A rumor that the Cooper Square Hotel, at 25 Cooper Square and Bowery Street, was going to be sold to the same people who run the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand was confirmed last night at Community Board 3’s State Liquor Authority committee meeting. The deal hasn’t been completed yet, so few details were available, according to Gothamist, though the application lists the Soho Grand as a related entity. The three men looking to take over the Cooper Square Hotel’s liquor licenses — which could happen in the next few days — were concerned about the transfer being smooth if it occurred over Christmas. One of the lawyers told Gothamist that the deal was “very close” to being completed. [Gothamist]
A German bank claims the developers of the year-old, sleek, 21-story Cooper Square Hotel in the East Village are in default on $52 million in loans, at the same time the building owes millions to contractors.
Not only is the project in financial distress, but developers and investors in the 145-room hotel at 25 Cooper Square at East 5th Street could owe as much as $6 million in personal guarantees, the recent lawsuit says.
Commercial lender WestLB filed to foreclose on $52 million in loans given to Cooper Square Hotel, Cooper Square Mezz Lender and seven individuals including the hotel’s co-developer Matthew Moss and real estate investor Kyle Ransford, a lawsuit filed Dec. 14 in New York State Supreme Court says.
In addition, at least 20 contractors have filed mechanic’s liens totaling $9.9 million on the project between June 2009 and Dec. 18, records from the New York County Clerk show. The largest single lien, for $5.8 million, was filed by contractor F.J. Sciame Construction on Aug. 21, the records show.
Moss, Ransford and investor Gregory Peck are in default on a completion guarantee, and collectively owe up to $6 million, in part because of the unpaid liens, the suit says. [more]
