Former Hudson Yards Hotel Sold in Foreclosure Auction
A 12-story property in Hudson Yards previously owned by Solly Assa changed hands at a foreclosure auction, inviting speculation over the next iteration of the building.
Investment banker Capital Insight acquired 511 Ninth Avenue through a foreclosure auction through a credit bid at a price between $68 million and $71.3 million, the Commercial Observer reported. Capital Insight was the lender and debt holder on the property, which has a troubled history.
Assa bought the site from Rosedale Equities for $36.3 million in 2006; the Chetrit Group and Read Property Group bought a stake in the property through a $15 million investment in 2012. It was the site of the Cassa Hotel, which closed in 2020, and the owner harbored plans for a mixed-use property known as the Galerie515 Hotel & Condominium Residences.
But the ambitious project doesn’t appear to have ever come to fruition. Capital Insight acquired the debt last year, according to PincusCo, then foreclosed on the property. Capital Insight plans to use the six commercial condominium units at the property as a cash-flowing asset.
Capital Insight did not respond to a request for comment from the Observer, while Assa Properties could not be reached.
Prior to losing control of the building, Assa secured a lease with Vida Steakhouse for space at the property. It’s unclear how the change in ownership will impact that lease; the building has retail space and parking availability.
At the start of the year, California-based Capital Insight bought an extended-stay Marriott-branded hotel in Torrance, near Redondo Beach, from Blackstone for approximately $54 million, or $218,000 per key. Capital Insight is separately planning to convert a former Four Points by Sheraton hotel near the Los Angeles International Airport into one-bedroom affordable housing apartments.
Elsewhere in Hudson Yards, New York City’s Industrial Development Agency recently postponed a vote on a proposed $100 million tax break for Tishman Speyer’s $2.7 billion tower at 99 Hudson Boulevard. The tax abatement package includes $92.2 million in city benefits for the planned 48-story, 1.3-million-square-foot development.
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