A South Street Seaport hotel run by the Cipriani family may soon have a new owner in Sono Hospitality, a South Korean operator with eyes on the U.S. market.
Talks between Sono and members of the Gassemieh family, who own the 66-key Mr. C Seaport, are in early stages, an individual familiar with the hotel’s operations confirmed to The Real Deal.
A notice filed Tuesday with the state Department of Labor indicates that the hotel is scheduled to close in January, citing a sale to Sono as the reason for the closure.
The hotel at the corner of Peck Slip and Front Street was developed in 2017 and 2018 by Bob and Alex Ghassemieh — who debuted the Mr. C brand in Beverly Hills years earlier — and the Howard Hughes Corporation, which sold its stake in the Seaport property two years ago.
The Mr. C brand is operated by Ignazio and Maggio Cipriani, fourth-generation members of the Italian hospitality family, and includes luxury hotels and residences in Los Angeles, Miami and Dubai.
The Ghassemiehs declined to comment on the sale.
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Bob Ghassemieh cited the South Street Seaport district’s “rebirth” as motivation for buying the hotel with Howard Hughes for $38 million in 2016. But that was before Covid.
Howard Hughes sold its minority stake in the hotel to the Ghassemiehs in July 2020 for just $800,000, recording a $6 million loss on the investment, according to filings by the publicly traded company.
The hotel is steps from Howard Hughes’ better-known South Street Seaport development: its 270-unit apartment building at 250 Water Street. The company secured final approval for the estimated $850 million project in December, following years of neighborhood pushback.
Sono says it has 16 properties in South Korea that combine for 10,000 rooms. The company bought a boutique hotel in Washington, D.C., in May, reportedly at a Covid-inspired discount.
If the sale to Sono goes through, it would be the latest in a string of recent hotel deals in Manhattan, including the Muse Hotel at 130 West 46th Street and a Courtyard Marriott in Midtown.