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Blackstone Hotel hits market as it sets to reopen
Sage Hospitality and Fundamental Advisors' historic South Loop property also has $52M loan coming due in June
One week before the Blackstone Hotel reopens after a year-long closure, its owners have put the 335-key South Loop property on the market.
Sage Hospitality Group and Fundamental Advisors enlisted Hodges Ward Elliott to sell the historic building at 636 South Michigan Avenue, according to Crain’s. The asking price is not known.
The 22-story building has been closed during the pandemic, and as it prepares to welcome guests back, the Chicago hotel market is still stuck in second gear.
Sage spent some $128 million to renovate the historic hotel in the 2000s. In 2016, Fundamental bought into the property and the duo plowed in close to $12 million more in upgrades. They also agreed to a franchise deal with Marriott; it is now part of the Marriott Autograph collection, Crain’s reported.
In June 2019, Sage and Fundamental landed a $52 million refinance from Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance. The Apollo loan comes due in June, according to the report.
At the time of the refi, the Chicago hotel market was enjoying a resurgence. That has all changed, and hotel occupancy now hovers around 30 percent citywide. On a hopeful note, RIU Hotels & Resorts recently announced plans to develop a 388-key hotel in Streeterville. [Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman