The Park Central LaSalle Hotel Properties said it closed on the acquisition of Park Central hotel in Manhattan for $396.2 million, or about $425,000 per key. LaSalle, Bethesda, Md.-based real estate investment trust, said the closing price represents a $9.3 million reduction from the original price of $405.5 million. The company said the current price was calculated based on Park Central’s income after debt service since Sept. 2, 2011. LaSalle financed the deal with available cash, borrowing from a senior unsecured line of credit and by issuing 296,300 operating partnership units. [more]

From left: Robert Knakal, Garrett Thelander and Robert Shapiro, all from Massey Knakal, On the Ave Hotel and the Park Central Hotel

While the New York City property sales statistics are vastly improved from 2010, the
market is still “slogging along,” according to Massey Knakal Realty Service’s mid-year
property sales report. The report, which covers all investment sales throughout the five
boroughs, shows dollar volume increased to $12.6 billion in the first half of 2011 — 74
percent more than 2010 on an annually adjusted
basis. In fact, $8.6 billion worth of sales were recorded in the second quarter, the most
since the fourth quarter of 2007. But sales volume, perhaps a better read on market
activity, increased just 15 percent on an annualized basis, to 1,920, less than 40 percent of
the 5,018 sales achieved in 2007. [more]

Bethesda, Md.-based real estate investment trust LaSalle Hotel Properties has agreed to purchase the Park Central Hotel at 870 Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th streets for $405.5 million, according to Crain’s. The deal is likely to close in the third quarter of 2011.

The 934-room hotel, built in 1928, is currently owned by Highgate Holdings, which will continue to operate and manage the hotel after the sale. The property is slated to undergo a $30 million to $35 million renovation next year, including upgrades to guest rooms, bathrooms, corridors and lobby. [more]

The owners of the legendary Park Central hotel have put the 1,000-room property on the market and could get as much as $400 million in a sale, according to the Post. The hotel, where Eleanor Roosevelt, Mae West and Jackie Gleason once stayed, was the recent subject of a $65 million renovation project. Owners Rockpoint and Highgate Hotels have asked Atlanta broker Mark Elliott to handle the bidding process at the 870 Seventh Avenue hotel. Meanwhile, Elliott is also brokering a deal for Rockpoint at Eighth Avenue’s Milford Plaza hotel, which it is said to be buying from the Milstein family. Tom McConnell, a senior managing director at Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick Goldman who is not involved in either deal, said the Park Central would command between $350,000 and $400,000 per room. “It will get a lot of attention in this market because there isn’t much else for sale,” he said. [Post] 

[more]

While commercial real estate experts predict a rise in distressed securitized loans for New York City over the next year, new data shows the number of assets added to the tally last month actually fell. The quantity of loans transferred to special servicers dropped sharply last month, and those placed on servicer watchlists declined slightly, new data provided by financial tracking firm Trepp to The Real Deal shows. Only three New York City loans were transferred to a special servicer in September, down from 13 the month before, the figures indicate. At the same time, the volume of assets placed on a servicer’s watchlist fell slightly to 40 from 50 the month before. [more]