Lexington Realty sells land under Midtown hotel for $37.5M

REIT sold fee position at 15 West 45th St. to Eaton Vance Corp.

15 West 45th Street in Midtown
15 West 45th Street in Midtown

Lexington Realty Trust sold the land it owned under a Midtown hotel for $37.5 million to a fund managed by Boston-based investment manager Eaton Vance Corp, city records filed Friday show.

The real estate investment trust sold the fee position at 15 West 45th Street, a property ground-leased to the operator of a 125-room Holiday Inn Express.

Lexington bought the fee interest for $30.4 million in late 2014 from the national hotel owner/operator Magna Hospitality Group.

Magna had paid $36.5 million for the property in 2005, then created a 99-year leasehold on the site that runs through 2113. Magna owns the leasehold position through a partnership with the San Francisco-based Walnut Hill Group.

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In an announcement that went along with its first-quarter earnings call Thursday, Lexington noted that Eaton Vance “assumed the $29.2 million mortgage in connection with the sale.”

Representatives for Eaton Vance could not be immediately reached for comment. Eastdil Secured represented Lexington in the deal.

Lexington is looking to generate up to $700 million in proceeds this year through the sale of 30 properties, which it would then invest in new developments. In Manhattan, those reportedly include the land under a 400-room Doubletree hotel at 8-12 Stone Street in Lower Manhattan, the 369-key Sheraton Tribeca at 372 Canal Street and a 410-room Element hotel at 309-311 West 39th Street.