Developer Chateau Group has allegedly defaulted on the 233-key Le Meridien Pasadena Arcadia hotel, The Real Deal has learned.
The Arcadia-based company fell behind on nearly $2.1 million in debt tied to the hotel, located at 130 West Huntington Drive in Arcadia, according to a default notice filed on Oct. 9. Lender Hankey Capital, based in Los Angeles and run by billionaire Don Hankey, provided a $29 million loan on the property in 2021.
Chateau completed construction on the 165,300-square-foot hotel, located near the Santa Anita Park horse-racing track, in 2021, property records show. The asset, described in Marriott’s website as a “Mid-Century Modern hotel” for “culture seekers,” includes a fitness center, a swimming pool and a 14,000-square-foot event space. It also contains a European-Asian fusion restaurant called Melange and a bar called Longitude 118.
Chateau, headed by Eric Chen, operates in the San Gabriel Valley and Orange County, according to its website. Last year, the firm figured in a large multifamily deal with the $125 million sale of an unfinished mixed-use project in San Gabriel. That property, named Province San Gabriel, was planned to have 127 residential units and 50,000 square feet of retail space. At the time of the sale, the project was reportedly nearing completion.
The firm has a portfolio of luxury single-family homes and residential communities. Its holdings include One Gallop, a 96-unit luxury condominium project right next to the Le Meridien Hotel, and Irolo Heights, a 33-unit residential complex in Koreatown.
The default is unfolding in spite of stronger hospitality statistics for the Los Angeles metro market. According to brokerage firm Matthews’ third-quarter California hospitality market report, hotels in Los Angeles have “kept strong positions” in occupancy and average daily rates. The submarkets of Hollywood/Beverly Hills and Santa Monica/Marina Del Rey posted average daily rates of $355, the highest in California.