Lightstone receives $130M construction loan for new Moxy hotel on LES

MSD Partners, Lionheart Strategic Management provide funding for the 303-key project at 145 Bowery

Lightstone Group CEO David Lichtenstein and 145 Bowery (Lightstone, Google Maps, Moxy Hotels)
Lightstone Group CEO David Lichtenstein and 145 Bowery (Lightstone, Google Maps, Moxy Hotels)

The newest Moxy Hotel in New York City is moving forward with the assistance of a $130 million construction loan.

Developer Lightstone Group recently secured a $90 million senior loan from MSD Partners for the planned Lower East Side hotel at 145 Bowery, in addition to $40 million in mezzanine debt from Lionheart Strategic Management, Commercial Observer reported.

The 303-key hotel will be the fourth in New York City under the Moxy brand. Once completed, it will stand 18 stories. Other Moxy hotels in Manhattan are in Times Square, Chelsea and the East Village, all of which were also developed by Lightstone, which partners with Marriott International for the brand.

A fifth Moxy location is planned for 353 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg.

Lightstone acquired the 145 Bowery site in April 2019 for about $57 million. Stonehill Taylor, which worked on the brand’s Chelsea hotel, was listed as the architect of record. The 127,000-square-foot property will be managed by Tao Hospitality Group once completed.

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Senior lender MSD just signed a 15-year lease for the 26th floor at SL Green’s One Vanderbilt, while Lionheart put down a $43 million mezzanine loan for The Piazza, a multifamily portfolio located in Philadelphia.

All parties in the loan are banking on the future success of the hotel industry in New York City, currently mired in a depression. The city recently saw its best week for hotel occupancy since the start of the pandemic, but is still struggling amid slow tourism recovery.

[CO] — Holden Walter-Warner