The Chetrit Group has locked down financing for its Hotel Carter property in Times Square, sources told The Real Deal. JPMorgan Chase provided a $152 million bridge loan, that is expected to be upgraded to a construction loan in the $200 million range, sources said.
The developer, led by Joseph and Meyer Chetrit, paid $192 million for the 600-key hotel at 250 West 43rd Street in 2014, and scored a $129 million acquisition loan from Apollo subsidiary Athene Annuity and Life Company in early 2015. The Chetrit Group purchased the property from the estate of Tran Dinh Truong, a controversial Vietnamese emigre. At the time, experts said the hotel would need at least $125 million worth of safety and infrastructure upgrades.
Maverick Commercial Properties’ Adi Chugh brokered the JPMorgan financing, which closed Monday. He was unavailable for comment. JPMorgan declined to comment.
Adi Chugh
The bank has ramped up its commercial real estate lending activity in New York in recent months. It was the lead lender in a consortium that provided a $900 million loan to Extell Development for the construction of Central Park Tower. It also agreed to loan $850 million to Macklowe Properties for the residential conversion of One Wall Street. JPMorgan overtook Deutsche Bank as the top CMBS issuer in the country in 2016, underwriting $12 billion worth of loans, according to Commercial Mortgage Alert.
The Chetrit Group, in partnership with Keith Rubenstein’s Somerset Properties, is still in the market for a construction loan of up to $500 million for a 1,300-unit rental complex in Mott Haven. It is said to be the largest financing being sought for a private development project in the Bronx.
And in other news on the Times Square hotels front, a partnership led by Steve Witkoff just sold its interest in the Times Square Marriott Edition to a joint venture between Maefield Development and Fortress Investment Group, in a deal valuing the property at $1.53 billion. Witkoff and his partners will continue to develop the hotel on behalf of Maefield and Fortress, sources told TRD.