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]

[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]

With the Trump Soho’s April 9 launch date looming large, the Grand Hotels NYC company, which operates the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand hotels, has unveiled its latest Web-based ad campaign for its brand. In the video above, found via EV Grieve, the company depicts its clientele as ultra-posh 20-somethings — including a woman who looks not entirely unlike Ivanka Trump. Ending with a fabulous party populated almost exclusively by the young and stylish, the draw is immediately clear: booze.

The marriage of real estate power couple Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner last month generated the kind of press coverage both the bride and groom are used to. Each born into families with histories of providing tabloid fodder, Trump and Kushner are nonetheless attempting to make headlines in the real estate world apart from their high-profile families. Neither is having a uniformly easy time making it as real estate moguls in their own right. Kushner’s acquisition of 666 Fifth Avenue has turned into something of a debacle for Kushner Cos., after office rents spiraled downward and debt grew on the property. And his purchase of a majority stake in the Observer couldn’t have come at a worse time in the newspaper industry. For Trump, one of her first major projects was the Trump Soho Grand, which is slated to open next month but which has been mired in bad press. Some expect that it will go into foreclosure. Still, others are impressed with the pair’s level of ambition. Trump and Kushner “have taken the silver spoons out of their mouths and have really accomplished something,” author Michael Gross told Crain’s this week.

From left: the Soho Grand Hotel, Tribeca Grand hotel and the Maritime Hotel are possible credit risks

The troubled hotel climate in Manhattan prompted securitized loan servicing firms to characterize five mortgages for hotels, including the Soho Grand, as potential credit risks last month. The move doubles the number of Manhattan hotels on so-called watchlists to 11. The largest loan is for a $195 million note covering both the Soho Grand and Tribeca Grand, which are both owned by Hartz Mountain Industries. The loan was put on the watchlist in part because the hotels do not generate enough cash to cover the debt service payments, its servicer report says. [more]