magic johnson

Magic Johnson Picks Up Houston Hotel

While most of the news about Magic Johnson lately has been about his plans to bring NFL football back to Los Angeles, Johnson has still kept busy adding new properties to his Canyon Johnson Urban Funds. Along with Centurion Partners, Canyon Johnson Urban Funds bought Hotel Icon, a trendy boutique hotel in Houston for $27 million through a credit bid at the Harris County foreclosure auction. The Houston Chronicle reports that the Hotel Icon had $46 million in debt.

The new owners plan to rebrand the hotel. It will no longer be an independent boutique hotel, but will become part of an undisclosed chain. This isn't Magic's first foray in Houston, Canyon Johnson Urban Funds, also owns the Marq*E Center, a 362,000-square-foot shopping center at the intersection of I-10/I-610 in Houston. Nor is this his first hotel deal, the Canyon Johnson portfolio already has the Washington Hilton among its properties.

The hotel has 135 rooms in the12-story structure at 220 Main, which was formerly the Union National Bank building, built in 1911. The building was bought in a 2002 foreclosure sale and the developers turned it into the Hotel Icon, which opened just before Houston hosted the Super Bowl in 2004. The building is also home to the Voice restaurant and the Balance Urban Day Spa.

Tags: hotel icon, houston hotels, Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson business

Billionaires Vie For Golden State Warriors

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports

The Golden State Warriors basketball team is up for sale and the billionaires are lining up. Who is in the running? There are four main suitors. One group is led by Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison with others who already own a minor share of the team. He has been the front-runner for a long time and many hope that his billions and billionaire acumen will bring the team new glory.

Another contender is led by 24-Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov whose group includes Magic Johnson. Mandalay Entertainment chair Peter Guber is also in the running. His Mandalay Baseball Properties owns a bunch of minor league baseball teams and was reportedly once interested in buying the Oakland Athletics. Bay Area News Group says the fourth contestant is David Bonderman. Bonderman, a founding partner of TPG Capital, is a Texas billionaire perhaps most known in the media for having one of the most expensive birthday parties ever. For his 60th birthday he hired the Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp and Robin Williams to perform, spending around $7 million. He has a fortune of around $1.7 billion.

All four groups have had a tour of the Warriors' facilities and will be preparing their bids. Warriors owner Chris Cohan is rumored to be hoping for at least $400 million and if possible, breaking the $401 million record set when Robert Sarver bought the Phoenix Suns. Cohan bought the team for $120 million in 1995. It is hoped that the deal will be wrapped up this summer, giving the new owners time to set a direction for next season. Die-hard Warriors fans are hoping that the new owners will bring plenty of enthusiasm and cash to revive the floundering franchise.

Tags: basketball, chris cohan, david bonderman, golden state warriors, larry ellison, magic johnson, nba

Magic Johnson's Condo Project Files For Bankruptcy

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Celebrity Shopping, Real Estate Developments

Magic Johnson has become the latest celebrity to be affected by bankruptcy. It's not his personal holdings that are in trouble but one of this investments, the 110 Green St. Development LLC, the developer behind the Viridian condo project in Brooklyn, NY. The developer is seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is converting the condos into rental units instead to keep pace with the changing New York City real estate market.

The Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund, a private real estate fund focused on urban properties, gave the development $12.3 million in mezzanine financing. 110 Green St. Development also has a loan of $35.75 million from the Bank of New York. Curbed reports that the entire building is being shopped around to investors for $65 million.

Gallery: Celebrity Foreclosures