Los Angeles-based firm Urban Commons has acquired the hotel portion of the Wagner at the Battery.
The company paid Millennium Partners and Westbrook Partners $147.3 million for the hotel at 2-10 West Street, according to documents filed with city on Wednesday. The hotel — which comprises 298 rooms across 12 floors at the base of the hotel — was put on the market in 2013 with an asking price of $200 million. The upper floors of the 38-story building contain 120 condo units.
The tower sits across from Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan. It was previously branded as a Ritz-Carlton. The property was recently the subject of a legal dispute between condo residents and owners Millennium and Westbrook. Millennium and Westbrook have interests in MPE Hotel I (Downtown New York), LLC, the entity that owns The Wagner. When the owners ended ties with Ritz-Carlton, the residents, whose units are branded as Ritz-Carlton Residences, sued, claiming that they were promised proximity to a five-star hotel. In its response in court, the owners disparaged the lawsuit, dismissing it as due to “the petulance of multi-millionaire residents who are unhappy with the change of their neighbor from one luxury hotel brand to another.” The hotel now operates under the Leading Hotels of the World flag.
The transaction adds to an uptick in hotel trades in the city. According to a recent report from hotel data and analytics firm STR, hotel sales totaled $2.9 billion for the 12 months ending in July. The figure more than triples the $906 million total for the same period last year.
The Wagner sale appears to be Urban Commons’ first acquisition in New York City. The firm, headed by Taylor Woods and Howard Wu, has a portfolio that includes the Ramada Hialeah Airport Hotel in Miami and the Renaissance Hotel in Denver, according to its website.
Urban Commons and Millennium Partners did not immediately respond to requests for comment.