Ruling clears path for Times Square Edition hotel foreclosure

Maefield Development at risk of losing property

20 Times Square and Maefield Development’s Mark Siffin (Edition Hotels)
20 Times Square and Maefield Development’s Mark Siffin (Edition Hotels)

Maefield Development’s Times Square Edition is one step closer to foreclosure.

A judge granted the hotel’s lenders, led by Natixix SA, the right to foreclose on the 42-story property, owned by Mark Siffin’s development firm, Bloomberg News reported.

The property — designed by Marriott International and major hotelier Ian Schrager — has faced foreclosure since December 2019 when the providers of a $650 million loan on the property sued the owner, citing “numerous undischarged mechanics’ liens recorded against the property.”

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The 452-room hotel at 701 Seventh Avenue, also known as 20 Times Square, opened in February 2019 with great fanfare. The property was once valued at $2.4 billion.

But it struggled to attract retail tenants and failed to generate positive cash flow, leading to the foreclosure filing by the lenders. The pandemic then ravaged the hospitality industry, and the hotel has been shut down since March 2020.

In May, the owner, the lenders and the hotel’s operator, Marriott International, reportedly came to an agreement to reopen the property in the fall, but apparently, the plan wasn’t implemented as the health crisis flared up.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen, who is presiding over the case, set up a status conference for March 23 to discuss the next step. In general, a foreclosure ruling allows lenders to move forward with a foreclosure sale to recoup their investment.

[Bloomberg News] — Akiko Matsuda