A leasehold on a Times Square Hotel, the 47-room Hotel 41 at 206 West 41st Street, will hit the auction block Dec. 5, after lender Crane, A.G., a 50 percent owner of the hotel, filed to foreclose on developer Benjamin Soleimani’s interest in the property, according to court documents filed with the city last week.
The 11,562-square-foot Hotel 41 building, on a side street just below Times Square, was leased by Soleiman’s 206 West 41st Street Hotel Associates and underwent a complete transformation by architect Andrew Pollack and Soleimani with ultra-modern interiors in 2008 (note: correction appended). The hotel’s on-site bar, Bar 41, has proven a hit with locals, according to online bar reviews.
Crane, A.G. is owned by John Lucas, one of the two limited partners in the hotel; Lucas provided all of the financing for the venture. The lien amount is $12.6 million, according to data from PropertyShark.com.
Neither Soleimani nor Lucas was immediately available for comment.
Soleimani is the same developer with plans for the on-again, off-again boutique Bond Noho Hotel at 8-12 Bond Street, which appears to be off the agenda for the mean time. The 86-room hotel was slated to have a restaurant, spa, swimming pool and a 5,000-square-foot area to rent out for parties. There is currently a one-story building on the site, according to PropertyShark.com.
“The hotel will be very cool, like the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meatpacking District,” Soleimani told the now defunct New York Sun when he originally announced is plans the Bond Street hotel in 2007.