Union Investment Real Estate GmbH, the property arm of Germany’s DZ Bank Group, is jumping into the city’s hotel market.
The Hamburg-based investor paid $206 million for the Peter Poon-designed Courtyard New York Downtown Manhattan/World Trade Center, according to seller Hidrock Properties.
The price works out to roughly $650,000 per key for the 30-story, 317-room hotel at 133 Greenwich Street, which Hidrock and its partner Robert Finvarb Companies opened in November.
Hidrock purchased the hotel development site at the corner of Greenwich and Thames streets for $28 million in 2012 at a time when developers flocked to invest in the resurgent Downtown area.
Company CEO Abie Hidary – who runs the firm his father Jack founded alongside brothers Eddie and Steven – said the investment strategy all along was to sell the property once it was up and running.
Rendering of Courtyard New York Downtown Manhattan/World Trade Center
“For us this was really a labor of love. We had a vision and we were able to see it through to fruition,” Abie Hidary told The Real Deal, adding that that despite fears that 2017 could be a tough year for the city’s hotel market, properties in prime locations are still commanding top dollar. “For well-located, well-branded [and] high-quality assets, the market is still strong.”
Hidrock will retain the 2,600-square-foot retail portion of the property, which the company will begin marketing in the spring.
“We feel that the retail in that neighborhood is going to be getting better,” Abie Hidary added. “There’s a lot of upside.”
The Marriott Courtyard deal is Union’s third hotel acquisition in the past year, following deals in Boston and Chicago. The company, which also owns the nearby 1.17 million-square-foot office tower at 140 Broadway, has a hotel portfolio consisting of more than 16,700 rooms spanning 60 properties. Union also owns the Financial District’s landmarked Marine Midland Building at 117 Broadway.
Eastdil Secured’s [TRDataCustom] Adam Etra represented Hidrock in the Marriott Courtyard deal.