A partnership of Oxford Capital Group and Gettys Group is facing foreclosure lawsuits on a pair of River North hotels as the pandemic continues to batter the city’s hospitality industry.
The developer partners defaulted on a combined $70 million in loans on the Hotel Felix and Holiday Inn Express Chicago Magnificent Mile, according to Crain’s.
Oxford and Gettys defaulted on a $47 million loan on the 225-key Hotel Felix, according to the report. A December foreclosure lawsuit noted the duo had not made a loan payment since May.
Oxford and Gettys faced a foreclosure suit on the same property in July 2018 after the hotel’s property taxes ballooned. That claim — which was ultimately resolved — alleged the joint venture skipped payments on the same CMBS loan for several months. Oxford and Gettys bought the Hotel Felix for $24 million in 2007.
A separate foreclosure suit on the 175-key Holiday Inn Express Chicago Magnificent Mile was also filed in December. Oxford and Gettys had stopped making payments on that $23.5 million loan in May, the report noted. The establishment was formerly known as Hotel Cass.
Last March, the hotels were among the five that Oxford designated for the city’s program to house people who tested positive for the coronavirus or were exposed to it. But loan special servicer LNR Partners rejected the deal, according to Crain’s.
Hotel owners across the region are still struggling. In Schaumburg, Arbor Lodging Partners and Northbrook-based Middleton Partners face a foreclosure filing on a $38.7 million loan to finance the purchase of the 398-room Marriott. In late August, Joe Sitt’s Thor Equities was hit with a $338 million foreclosure suit at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago after allegedly failing to make several mortgage payments on the trophy hotel property.
Meanwhile, an October report found that numerous hotels and shopping malls in Cook County missed their latest property tax payment, adding up to nearly $500 million the county couldn’t collect.
[Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman