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Original Barneys building in Chelsea faces foreclosure
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Ashkenazy scores $85M loan for UWS hotel amid foreclosures, legal woes
Arthouse Hotel sees new cash from Citigroup
A photo illustration of Ben Ashkenazy along with the Arthouse Hotel at 2178 Broadway (Getty, Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp, Google Maps)
Ben Ashkenazy took out an $85 million mortgage on his Upper West Side Arthouse Hotel at 2178 Broadway, Crain’s reported.
Ashkenazy’s spokesperson Russ Colchamiro told the outlet that the loan replaces an $80 million loan paid off in November, and that the transaction is unrelated to any financial woes and is just a “run-of-the-mill refi.”
Citigroup reportedly financed the new loan, which has a 7.38 percent interest rate and comes due in five years.
The investor bought the 291-room hotel in 2016 for $140 million and spent $10 million upgrading the rooms and lobby, the outlet reported. The hotel still needs another $2 million for further renovations, including fixing the façade. The rest will be distributed to Ashkenazy and a partner.
According to KBRA, the hotel has an 80 percent occupancy rate, charges $300 per night for a room and had $30 million in revenue last year with $11 million in net operating income.
The cash-out comes after the foreclosure of Ashkenazy’s two Madison Avenue buildings in recent months. Ashkenazy acquired the land at 625 Madison Avenue for $400 million and defaulted on a $195 million loan. SL Green, the lender and owner of the $560,000 square-foot building on the property, took control and later sold it to Related for $635 million.
Then in May, a JPMorgan entity acquired the land under 635 Madison Avenue, after Ashkenazy defaulted on a $90 million loan for a ground lease. The developer also lost control of his Chelsea building, the former site of a Barney’s department store at 115 Seventh Avenue, in March 2022.
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The Daily Dirt: The Many Battles of Ben Ashkenazy
Ashkenazy sold Boston tourist spot Faneuil Hall earlier this year, after defaulting on outstanding payments in lieu of taxes. He is also being sued by homeowners in apartment buildings on the Upper East Side and Chelsea for unpaid bills.
The investor’s net worth of $1.6 billion has taken a tumble by 60 percent since 2019, according to Forbes. He still owns a piece of the Plaza Hotel and South Station, as well as the former Barney’s New York flagship store at 660 Madison Avenue, which remains vacant.
— Christina Previte
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