Aby Rosen’s RFR sells 11 Howard Hotel to Commerz Real for $170M

221-key property in Soho opened earlier this month

From left: Aby Rosen, a rendering of 11 Howard Street and Commerz Real's investment manager for hospitality Sven Noetling
From left: Aby Rosen, a rendering of 11 Howard Street and Commerz Real's investment manager for hospitality Sven Noetling

Just a week after opening the Soho Hotel at 11 Howard Street, Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty sold it to German asset manager Commerz Real for $170 million, property records filed with the city Tuesday show.As part of the deal, RFR signed a separate agreement to lease back the building from its new landlord for 10 years, with options to extend for another 10 years and ultimately buy the building back. If RFR exercises its repurchase option, the Commerz investment would end up as a de-facto loan.

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Rosen bought the 114,500-square-foot, 14-story former Holiday Inn hotel for $89.7 million from Procaccianti Group in 2014. He then renovated the building and turned it into the more upscale 211-room Soho Hotel, which opened this month.

The developer is currently building a 711-foot condo tower at 100 East 53rd Street in partnership with China Cinda. He is also partnering with Jared Kushner on the $700 million acquisition of several Dumbo properties owned by Jehovah’s Witnesses.