Chetrit-backed hotel chain to buy Hotel Williamsburg

Two months after entering a deal to take over the Hotel Williamsburg, King & Grove, the boutique hotel chain backed by the Chetrit Group, is close to an agreement to buy the Brooklyn hotel, The Real Deal has learned.

King & Grove, founded by former Morgan’s Hotel Group executives Ed Scheetz and Ben Pundole, has been rapidly expanding with a recently announced deal to manage the Tides in South Beach and the Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan. The deal comes just weeks after the Hotel Williamsburg’s developers, Minneapolis-based Graves World Hospitality and Brooklyn-based KM Construction & Development began closing units at the condo portion of the property, called the Residences at the Williamsburg, at 135 North 11th Street near McCarren Park in Brooklyn.

“While the partners’ long term goal was to operate the property and its signature restaurant, Pillar & Plough, indefinitely,” said Nicole Gagnon, spokesperson for the hotel, which has an address of 160 North 12th Street, “the overwhelming praise of this high-profile project attracted a non-solicited buyer to purchase the property at a very favorable price.”

King & Grove officials declined to comment on the deal, which was first tweeted by the Hotel Chatter blog Friday.

“We have a policy not to comment on any transactions whether pending or that aren’t closed,” said Jennifer Foley Shields, spokesperson for King & Grove and the Chetrit Group.

Chetrit Group, led by investor Joseph Chetrit, entered a deal in 2011 to help finance the expansion of King & Grove, which has been scouting new boutique properties in cities around the country.

Last month, King & Grove reached an agreement to take over the Hotel Clark in downtown Los Angeles.

King & Grove also manages the Surf Lodge and Ruschmeyer’s in Montauk, N.Y.

The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.