HotelForeclosure

Hudson Valley Resort & Spa Files Chapter 11

Another hotel has hit our hotels in trouble radar. The Hudson Valley Resort & Spa in Kerhonkson, New York is saddled with $26 million of debt and has declared bankruptcy hoping to avoid foreclosure. The Times Herald-Record reports that the owners of the resort filed Chapter 11 back in January around the same time that their biggest lender finished a foreclosure case against them. Chapter 11 bankruptcy could give the owners time to reorganize and keeps the bank from being saddled with a property it doesn't really want. The 332-room resort remains open.

The current owners purchased the hotel in 2006 for $18.5 million (it is currently valued at $5.8 million) Their plans for the property including making it a Marriott-branded hotel and adding 300 vacation homes to the property. They also contracted golfer Vijay Singh to redesign the resort's 18-hole golf course but none of these plans materialized. The resort is the biggest private employer in this small town with 150 people. The hotel also owes the Town of Rochester nearly $40,000 in taxes. The Times Herald-Record article has a quote from a former owner who went bankrupt on the hotel in 1997 and says the current owners paid too much for it. The amount of debt that the hotel is carrying will make a potential recovery an uphill climb.

Tags: hotel foreclosure, hotel foreclosures, HotelForeclosure, HotelForeclosures, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, hudson valley resort and spa, HudsonValleyResortAndSpa

Whistler Blackcomb Facing Foreclosure Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

Next month's Winter Olympics have been anticipated for years in Whistler. But one resort is facing an unexpected snag, foreclosure. Whistler Blackcomb, which will be hosting part of next month's games may end up being auctioned off in the middle of the Olympics. The owner, private equity firm and hedge fund Fortress Investment Group, has failed to make payments on a $1.7 billion loan. The company bought resort operator Intrawest for $2.8 billion in 2006 back when everything was smooth sailing in the real estate world.

Flash forward to now and Fortress is trying to refinance the loan and lenders to Fortress have been publishing notices of foreclosure in places like the Wall Street Journal announcing a public auction of the assets of Intrawest which includes a bunch of winter resorts sprinkled across North America. The auction date of February 19 puts the sale of Whistler Blackcomb smack dab in the middle of the Olympics. Intrawest is said to be negotiating with the lenders but plans to continue with business as usual and the auction likely won't affect the running of the event. Intrawest properties also include the Whistler Sliding Centre, shown at right, which is the site of the Olympic bobsled and luge events.

The Globe and Mail reports that Intrawest ULC has sold its Panorama Mountain Village resort as part of its effort to stave off the auction. Panorama is located in eastern British Columbia and neither the buyer nor the price have been revealed. Intrawest already sold Copper Mountain in Colorado last November.

Tags: foreclosure, fortress, hotel foreclosure, HotelForeclosure, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, intrawest, OlympicGames, olympics, whistler, whistler blackcomb, WhistlerBlackcomb, winter olympics, WinterOlympics

Four Seasons Dallas Headed For Foreclosure?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Breaking info from the Dallas Morning News, it looks like lenders are looking to foreclosure on the Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas, a massive 400-acre hotel, spa and golf club in Irving, Texas. The five-star resort has an over 430-room hotel, two restaurants, lounge bars, a TPC golf course and the finest sports club and spa in the Dallas area. Last summer the resort completed a $60 million project with a new sports bar, family pool, and tennis show-court.

U.S. Bank NA is has pushed for a foreclosure sale on February 2 to force repayment of a $183 million loan on the property. It's a huge foreclosure for the area and one that has been in the works for a while as the borrowers, BentleyForbes missed payments and tried to negotiate with lenders. BentleyForbes has owned the resort since 2006 and Four Seasons operates the facility. As is usually true in these cases there has been no alteration in the daily operations of the hotel. The resort is the latest in a series of hotel foreclosures around the nation.

Tags: dallas texas, DallasTexas, four seasons dallas, FourSeasonsDallas, hotel foreclosure, hotel foreclosures, HotelForeclosure, HotelForeclosures, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble

Historic Florida Inn For Sale In Foreclosure Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

A Florida landmark will go up for foreclosure later this month. The Ritz Historic Inn, an 85-year-old Ocala, Florida landmark on the National Registry of Historic Places, will go up for auction on January 21 through the auction firm Tranzon Diggers. A local lender holds the mortgage but opted not to take possession of the property. The auction will take place at the Ritz and a potential buyer must provide ten percent down with the total due a month later.

The new owner will get a 36-room hotel which was built in 1925 as Ocala's first true apartment complex. Each of the Ritz's 16 original apartments had five rooms and a private garage. The entire property was renovated in the 1980s and now has 32 guest suites, a pool, spa and fountains. it is on 2.5 acres and includes a bar and entertainment facility as well as a pavilion and a gazebo. The listing says the property is in need of some repair. Bidders can check out the property at two viewing appointments, January 7 and 14 -- at 11AM.

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Tags: hotel for sale, hotel foreclosure, hotel foreclosures, HotelForeclosure, HotelForeclosures, HotelForSale, ocala, ritz historic inn, RitzHistoricInn

Mansion at Peachtree Faces Foreclosure

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

It is one of Atlanta's grandest new developments but the Mansion on Peachtree may be in deep financial trouble. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, the project is facing foreclosure. The project developer has said that a 30-day foreclosure notice is expected tomorrow unless something else happens. Last week Clark Butler, president of City Centre Properties LLC and Mansion Centre Development LLC said that he was in discussion with lenders to work out a deal. If no deal is reached iStar Financial, the primary lender, would receive the property. First Citizens Bank is a secondary lender holding the mezzanine debt. The Atlanta Business Chronicle article reports a total debt of $187.4 million which is above the original estimated price of the project, $165 million.

The Mansion at Peachtree is home to luxury condos and a five-star hotel operated by Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. The building also includes NEO, a contemporary Italian restaurant, the fourth location of Craft from restaurateur Tom Colicchio. Craft Atlanta and the 29 Spa. The project was announced to great fanfare back in 2006 but by the time it opened in 2008 the Atlanta real estate market was already mid-slump. Some people who wanted to get into the project couldn't sell the homes they already owned and the high prices of the condos dwarfed the prices of some homes in the area. Last June a penthouse in the mansion sold for $4 million but it was originally listed at $10.2 million. Tourism continues to be fairly sluggish in Atlanta so the project has been hit from two angles. The developer insists that its a great project, just one that launched at an unfortunate time.

Tags: atlanta, buckhead, foreclosure, hotel foreclosure, HotelForeclosure, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, mansion on peachtree, MansionOnPeachtree

Artisan Hotel In Las Vegas Faces Foreclosure

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

The Artisan Hotel & Spa in Las Vegas has become the latest to succumb to foreclosure. The modest 64-room property is an off-the-beaten-track favorite with locals and is known for its framed art and hip decor. It does not have a casino and is located at Sahara Avenue and Interstate 15.

The Las Vegas Sun reports that the hotel had filed for Chapter 11 back in December 2008, listing assets of $18.3 million (mostly the value of the hotel real estate) and liabilities of $7.85 million. The main creditor was the Citizens Bank of Oregon, Mo. The hotel struggled to turn a profit and later the bankruptcy case was combined with another bankruptcy case for the co-owner's other Artisan hotel in El Paso. Texas. Earlier this month the IRS asked that the Chapter 11 cases become Chapter 7 cases forcing a liquidation because the company failed to file federal employment tax returns and tax deposits since the bankruptcy cases were filed. A receiver will be appointed to operate the property until the foreclosure sale.

The hotel has many fans but has also had an ongoing problem with service. Reviews on travel website Trip Advisor are very polarized, people either loved this place or had serious issues with the service and room standards.

Tags: artisan hotel, ArtisanHotel, hotel foreclosure, hotel foreclosures, HotelForeclosure, HotelForeclosures, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, las vegas, LasVegas

Gansevoort South Hotel Facing Foreclosure Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Miami's beautiful Gansevoort South hotel is the latest hotel in trouble. The Miami Herald is reporting that Credit Suisse has announced a January 28 auction for the ownership stake that was once used to obtain $89 million mezzanine loan on the hotel. Developers William and Michael Achenbaum got their financing at the top of South Florida's real estate bubble, hoping to make a fortune on condo units. But sales were sluggish for the condos in the residential tower and the Achenbaums decided not to convert some of the hotel rooms into condo-hotel units. Because of the real estate downturn the developers were forced to rely on hotel revenue to pay back their debt at a time when tourism has been experiencing some of its worst numbers ever.

The 334-room oceanfront hotel hasn't been empty. The enviable location and sharp design have attracted a lot of attention. It has been used as a backdrop in the Bravo reality show Miami Social and was reportedly a hot spot during the recent Art Basel Miami Beach show. The hotel remains open and busy as the winter season begins.

The Miami Herald article says that the Achenbaums hope to find a way to buy back the loan at the auction and retain ownership. The $89 million loan was backed by the Achenbaum ownership stake not the Gansevoort property itself so the auction is not a traditional foreclosure proceeding. The hotel also has a separate $314 million mortgage. Any winner in the auction would also have to take on that mortgage.

Before it was the Gansevoort South, the building was the Roney Palace and the adjoining Roney condo complex. That project went through bankruptcy in 2004 and Chicago developer Joseph Chetrit paid about $150 million for the property months after the Chapter 11 filing, eventually selling his company's interest to the Achenbaums after a failed joint venture between the two groups.

Gallery: Gansevoort South

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Tags: ganseevort hotel, ganseevort south, GanseevortHotel, GanseevortSouth, hotel, hotel foreclosure, HotelForeclosure, hotels in trouble, HotelsInTrouble, miami beach, MiamiBeach

W Hotel Scottsdale Out Of Foreclosure

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

We write about hotels when they enter foreclosure and its nice to see that some of them get out of it too. The W Scottsdale hotel in Arizona has announced a resolution to its battle with contractors and with its lender HSH Nordbank AG. The hotel's developer, Los Angeles-based Triyar Cos., has paid off the hotel's $82 million mortgage for an undisclosed amount. Lawsuits between Triyar, Nordbank and general contractor Hunt Construction Corp. were dropped. The Wall Street Journal reports that Triyar Chief Executive Michael Mahoney said that hotel is the first to "successfully come out of the situation with the whole project restructured without the need for bankruptcy or foreclosure." It's a pretty neat feat at a time when the number of hotels in foreclosure is reaching an unprecedented height. Details on how Triyar did it haven't been revealed but Mahoney said the developer put together money and an outside investor chipped in. The hotel remains open and has a variety of special offers available include an offer that when you stay two or three nights the second or third night will be charged at a rate equal to your birth year (for example, if you were born in 1970, your first night would be $269 but your second night is only $70).

Gallery: Hotels In Transition

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Tags: arizona, hotel foreclosure, hotel foreclosures, HotelForeclosure, HotelForeclosures, hotels, hotesl in trouble, HoteslInTrouble, w hotels, w scottsdale, WHotels, WScottsdale

Hotel Jerome Facing Foreclosure Auction

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

I'm sorry to hear this news, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that another grand resort has hit hard times. Aspen's historic Hotel Jerome, has been scheduled for an auction. The hotel, which opened way back in 1889, was purchased in 2007 by a pair of investors, Elysian Worldwide LLC and Lodging Capital Partners LLC. The deal was financed with a $48 million mortgage provided by Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Inc. Now an entity identified as Jerome Property LLC has said that the owners failed to pay the mortgage's $36.3 million balance. The foreclosure filing was recorded on September 24 and the foreclosure auction will be held in January unless something changes.

Meanwhile, the hotel, which is managed by Rock Resorts, remains open and is preparing for the busy ski season with a bunch of special offers and packages. The hotel is one of Aspen's most beloved landmarks and the J-Bar is a popular destination famous for the Aspen Crud, a milkshake and bourbon concoction that is a bit like a Mudslide that punches you in the gut.

Gallery: Hotels In Transition

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Tags: aspen, colorado, foreclosure, hotel foreclosure, hotel jerome, HotelForeclosure, HotelJerome

Maui Prince Hotel Facing Foreclosure

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The hotel foreclosure shakeout continues with another Hawaii hotel in trouble. The operators of the 310-room Maui Prince Hotel will have to lay off 380 workers when the resort is shut down on September 16. The resort is being foreclosed upon by mortgage holders including Wells Fargo Bank after owners failed to pay the $192.5 million mortgage when it came due in July.

The 310-room beachfront resort offers rooms starting at around $425 a night. It is managed by Prince Resorts Hawaii but is owned by Morgan Stanley real-estate fund and local developers which bought the hotel in 2007 for $575 million (there is a $227.5 million in mezzanine debt being held by a UBS fund plus $250 million in equity that Morgan Stanley and others put into the property).

The resort is located on a white sand beach at the foot of Haleakala on Maui. The entire hotel is built around an Asian meditation garden with stone paths, waterfalls and streams. The hotel is designed so all rooms have at least a partial ocean view. There are 19 luxury suites. The resort is also home to the Makena Golf Course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr.

Prince Resorts Hawaii has said it will stop managing the resort due to a shortage of funds from the resort's owners and lenders. The company manages three other resorts in Hawaii. Wells Fargo and other lenders have asked a Hawaii state judge to appoint a receiver to be in charge of find a new management company and to administer an escrow account for covering the hotel's costs. No word yet on whether a name change will be required if Prince Resorts is no longer managing the hotel.

UPDATE: According to the Maui News the trustee attorney for the Maui Prince says the hotel will remain open. The Maui Prince recently announced a $99 a night room deal available Sunday through Thursday nights. (thanks, Jeff)

Gallery: Hotels In Transition

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Tags: hawaii, hotel foreclosure, HotelForeclosure, hotels, maui prince hotel, MauiPrinceHotel