The University Inn & Suites in Berkeley is off to a foreclosure auction after its owner defaulted on a $10.5 million JPMorgan Chase loan.
Kubera Hotel Properties, owner of the 113-room hotel at 920 University Avenue, was first served a notice of default in February, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The May 13 trustee’s sale warning claimed Kubera owed a total unpaid debt of nearly $9.2 million. The debt matured with a balance of less than $1 million.
It will now be sold to the highest bidder on June 10.
The hotel has seen a steep decline in value in recent years. The latest appraisal placed the property’s worth at $12 million; its estimated value was $15.4 million in 2021 and $21.8 million at the time JPMorgan Chase Bank issued the loan in 2019.
Bowman Post Group of NewGen Advisory is selling the property for $19.8 million. The complex has been on the market since at least February.
Bowman Post’s David Bowman told the Business Times that he’s been fielding interest from a few buyers but wouldn’t disclose further details, calling it a “complicated transaction.” The hope would be for the new owner to take over and renovate the property given its prime location.
The University Inn & Suites, once branded as a La Quinta Inn by Wyndham, is approximately 2 miles down University Avenue from the University of California, Berkeley campus. The West Berkeley hotel is a few blocks away from the Berkeley Marina, McLaughlin Eastshore State Park and shops and restaurants.
Other East Bay hotels have also been in rough financial waters lately.
In February, the Oakland Marriott City Center got a notice of default on its $100 million loan. Last summer, the AC Hotel and Residence Inn by Marriott Downtown Oakland defaulted on a $101 million loan after a year of operations. Wyndham offloaded the 142-room La Quinta Oakland Airport Coliseum for $12 million last year.
— Chris Malone Méndez
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