Crowne Plaza Sells for $362M

NEW YORK CITY-The City Investment Fund LP acquired the Crowne Plaza hotel in Times Square for $362 million. The 770-key hotel was sold by KG Land New York, a subsidiary of the Japan-based New Real Property Corp. InterContinental Hotels Group will continue to operate the hotel.

“We are thrilled to have acquired such an iconic asset in the heart of Times Square. In so doing we are inheriting a highly successful hotel that will benefit from the continued excellent management of the InterContinental Hotels Group,” Joseph Zuber, CIO of City Investment Fund, says in a statement.

KG Land built the 42-story hotel in 1989 and partially renovated the facility in 2005, according to a release. The base of the hotel houses 13,000 sf of retail space, including Hershey’s Times Square. The hotel also includes 26,000 sf of meeting space, 180,000 sf of office space and a health club.

Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital provided the mortgage financing.

In March, as reported by GlobeSt.com, Sunstone Hotel Investors bought the 444-room Hilton Times Square for about $243 million from Forest City Ratner Cos.

In general, “The Manhattan hotel market is tremendously strong both in market fundamentals and on the part of the investors looking for product,” says Eric Lewis, senior director, industry leader of the hospitality and gaming group at Cushman & Wakefield.