Waldorf Astoria Chicago going to Joe Mansueto at steep discount

Billionaire entrepreneur paying $54M for luxury hotel, a year after its lender seized control of 215-key tower at foreclosure

Joe Mansueto and Waldorf Astoria Chicago at 11 E. Walton Street (Morningstar, Google Maps)
Joe Mansueto and Waldorf Astoria Chicago at 11 E. Walton Street (Morningstar, Google Maps)

Billionaire entrepreneur Joe Mansueto is buying the Waldorf Astoria Chicago, a year after its lender seized control of the 215-key Gold Coast hotel in foreclosure proceedings.

The founder of Morningstar is paying $54 million for the luxury property at 11 E. Walton Street, according to Crain’s. The seller is Walton Street Capital.

The total debt on the luxury hotel amounts to about $90 million, Crain’s reported. A Walton Street debt fund took control of the hotel from Chicago hotelier Laurence Geller and Wanxiang America Real Estate Group in September 2019. Walton Street had been a junior lender on the $112 million acquisition loan Geller and Wanxiang secured in 2015 for the purchase.

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The deal with Mansueto for the 60-story hotel will wipe out Walton’s equity in the building plus about 20 percent of the $67 million loan that Wells Fargo originated for the 2015 purchase, according to the report. Wells will also provide the debt for Mansueto’s acquisition; Lodging Capital Partners is a minority investor in the venture.

Among his holdings, Mansueto owns the Wrigley Building — which he acquired for $255 million in 2018 — along with the 297-unit Belden-Stratford apartments, which he bought for $106 million the same year.

Recent appraisals have slashed hotel values, including the Palmer House Hilton and the 610-room JW Marriott, according to Crain’s. [Crain’s] — Orion Jones