The 190-key Mondrian Park Avenue boutique luxury hotel in Manhattan has been sold to Global Holdings Management Group, the international real estate development and investment firm led by its billionaire Chairman and Founder Eyal Ofer.
Global Holdings, which previously held a senior mortgage loan on the hotel, bought the property at 444 Park Ave. S between 30th and 31st streets as part of a prior agreement with previous owner Moin Development, according to a statement.
Global Holdings had purchased a $110 million senior mortgage loan on the asset in June 2021 after the pandemic forced the hotel to shut its doors temporarily for months in 2020. That led to an agreement in September 2022 for the loan to be paid off by June 30, 2023, at a significantly discounted amount, according to a source familiar with the situation. The agreement included Moin Development depositing into escrow a deed in lieu. When the discounted amount was not repaid at the end of June, the deed was transferred to Global Holdings as agreed, according to the source.
“Mondrian Park Avenue is an extraordinary asset, perfectly located in the heart of Manhattan at a time when tourists and local visitors are flooding back into the city,” Global Holdings Chief Executive Jonathan Ofer said in the statement.
The hotel, which is near landmarks such as Madison Square Park and the Empire State Building, was originally constructed in 1918 as a 15-story office building before five floors were added for its conversion to become a 20-story hotel, according to a statement from the hotel when it opened in 2017.
Global Holdings, which has more than 120 properties globally across residential, hotel and commercial assets, has been active in New York. In the past month, it began leasing for Anagram Columbus Circle, a luxury rental tower located next to its luxury condominium tower, 15 Central Park West. It also has bought 51 Irving Place, a mixed-use apartment building located near Gramercy Park, Global Holdings said.
Global Holdings' ownership control of the Mondrian hotel comes as New York’s hotel industry, hard hit by the pandemic, continues to see signs of recovery.
New York has turned from one of the worst-performing top 25 U.S. markets at the end of 2021, to one of the best-performing markets at year-end 2022, according to a CoStar report. Hotel revenue per available room in New York is expected to top 2019's level by 8% this year, led by an 18% jump in average daily room rate even as the occupancy rate still lags 2019's level by nearly 7 percentage points, the CoStar report said.