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Times Square Edition to close after only a year

The lender on Maefield’s 20 Times Square project moved to foreclose in December

Ian Schrager, 20 Times Square and Maefield Development’s Mark Siffin (Credit: Getty, PBDW Architects)
Ian Schrager, 20 Times Square and Maefield Development’s Mark Siffin (Credit: Getty, PBDW Architects)

Marriott International has given notice that the Times Square Edition hotel will be shuttering this summer. It’s the latest in the ongoing saga at Mark Siffin’s 20 Times Square project.

Marriott’s notice comes after the operator warned the hotel owner, Maefield Development, back in March that the owner could go into default on its contract as a result of the pandemic, Bloomberg reported. Now, the hotel operator is making good on the warning and yanking its flag.

The Edition brand — created by boutique hotelier Ian Schrager and Marriott — opened the 452-room hotel last year at 20 Times Square. The mixed-use project, once appraised at $2.4 billion, has significant digital signage and retail space. Tenants include Hershey’s and previously, the NFL Experience, a joint venture between the National Football League and Cirque du Soleil.

Marriott’s closure of the hotel represents the latest setback for Maefield. In December, one of the developer’s lenders, French bank Natixis, filed to foreclose on the project. Natixis claimed $650 million of the $2 billion financing package it put together was in default due to “undischarged mechanics’ liens.”

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When the project began in 2012, Maefield’s partners in the venture included Steve Witfkoff, Winthrop Realty Trust, the Carlton Group, Howard Lorber’s New Valley and Fortress Investment Group. But Maefield and Fortress bought out the other partners in 2018 with the $2 billion financing.

Many hotels, already operating on thin margins before the coronavirus brought business to a halt, have been pushed to the edge as a result of the shutdown.

The owner of another hotel in Times Square, the Hilton on West 42 Street, wrote down the value of the property to less than its $77 million mortgage earlier in May and warned investors that it may hand it over to lenders, according to Bloomberg. [Bloomberg] — Erin Hudson

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