The financing was provided by a consortium of banks headed by HSBC Bank USA, and includes a $40 million mezzanine loan provided by Transwestern Realty Finance Partners LLC. "We obviously faced strong head winds in this most challenging credit market of our times," says Miki Naftali, president and CEO of locally based El-Ad, in a prepared statement, "but the strength of El-Ad, the quality of the hotel, the success of the operation and the power of the Plaza brand prevailed."
The Plaza has 282 rooms and suites, including 152 hotel condominiums and 130 hotel rooms. The hotel is part of the nearly one-million-sf landmark purchased by El-Ad in 2004 for $675 million, as GlobeSt.com reported, from a partnership of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc and Kingdom Investments. Millennium & Copthorne had purchased the Plaza in 1995 for $325 million. The restoration cost more than $400 million.
El Ad Group and Kingdom Holding did not return GlobeSt.com queries by deadline for further information. Michael Girimonti, senior vice president of Transwestern Realty Finance Partners' New York City office, who arranged the mezzanine transaction for Transwestern, says in a prepared statement that "we are pleased to have financed such a high quality investment in this environment in terms of the trophy caliber of the asset, superb location and its financial characteristics."
Transwestern managing director Thomas McCahill adds that the firm's focus now more than ever is to focus on "top quality, high performing assets in major markets, supported by experienced, well capitalized sponsors and this deal meets all those criteria."
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.