The Aman Group has put the renovated Crown Building in Midtown Manhattan on the market, just a month after the developer opened a namesake luxury hotel in the building.
The Aman Hotel, located on "Billionaire's Row" on 57th Street and Fifth Avenue, is the most expensive luxury lodging is the city. The asking price for the building would make it the most lucrative hotel deal since the start of the pandemic: $600M.
According to a report in Bloomberg, Aman Group's decision to put the Crown Building on the shopping block is part of a strategic transaction in which Aman will remain the operator of the hotel.
Recommended For You
"Aman Group confirms it is working with JLL and UBS on the potential sale of the Crown Building. Per Aman's asset-light operating model and strategic vision for growth, the iconic building is being offered to market subject to a long-term management contract with Aman," the company said, in an email to Bloomberg.
In addition to the 83-suite hotel, the Crown Building includes 22 residential condos that were created in a $1.3B conversion and renovation.
The landmark building, which opened in 1921, has had a string of high-profile owners prior to Aman, including former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and NY developer Bernard Spitzer, father of former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer.
Aman and OKO Group, both owned by developer Vlad Doronin, landed a $750M construction loan for the conversion of the Crown Building in 2019. Cain International provided $450M in mezzanine financing, with a senior tranche of $300M from Bank OZK.
The debt package was refinanced with a $754M loan from JPMorgan Chase in June.
The Aman Hotel's luxury accoutrements include an indoor spa, 65-foot pool and sound-proofing that reportedly makes it impossible to hear car horns, ambulance sirens and firetrucks in Midtown.
Aman's ultra-luxury status—and its eye-popping asking price—would exempt it from the "fire sale" designation that has applied to most of the hotel sales in Manhattan this year.
Several hotels in Manhattan have traded for bargain-basement prices as investors bet they'll be able to turn a profit when tourism and business travel return to full strength in NYC.
In June, Apollo Global Management and investor Newbond Holdings announced a deal to buy the Hilton Times Square for $85M, roughly 35% of the $243M California-based REIT Sunstone Hotel Investors paid to acquire the 478-room hotel in 2006.
Manhattan hotel trades this year involving steep discounts include the Sheraton New York Times Square, which reportedly sold for half the price the owner paid when it was last acquired in 2006. MCR and Island Capital Group said they paid $373M for the Sheraton.
The Midtown DoubleTree on Lexington Ave. was sold by RLJ Lodging Trust to Hawkins Way Capital for $146M, a sale price less than half of what RLJ Lodging paid for the property in 2010; the Mandarin Oriental on Columbus Circle was sold in January for $98M, also a significant discount.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
