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1. Former Radisson Wall Street sells for $94.5 million
The former Radisson Hotel New York Wall Street sold for $94.5 million on Dec. 12, HNN's Bryan Wroten reports. McSam Hotel Group is the recorded sellers, and Slate Property Group is listed as the buyer.
The 289-room property most recently sold in 2017 for $95 million. In 2006, the property sold for $102.2 million, according to CoStar data.
Tribeca Citizen reported in May 2023 that the property would be used as a shelter for migrant people.
2. Americans take on debt this holiday season
A new survey from LendingTree shows that 36% of Americans took on holiday debt, with an average of $1,181 in debt, CNBC reports. The average debt figure is up from $1,028 last year but down from $1,549 in 2022.
About 44% of people who took on debt weren't expecting to do so. Matt Schulz, credit analyst at LendingTree, said this is reflective of how tough the holiday season can be financially.
“Some of it is people just wanting to wrap up what’s been a difficult year by spreading a little joy, and maybe they ended up taking on a little bit of extra debt to do so,” Schulz said.
3. Labor, inflation lead hotel operational challenges in 2024
Labor and inflation were among the biggest challenges for hotel management companies in 2024. The two play hand in hand, with higher inflation leading to higher wages, thus accentuating labor problems.
Gregg Forde, president and chief operating officer at West Palm Beach, Florida-based Island Hospitality, said that inflation was the key driver of operational challenges for the hotel industry this year.
"Our business is really predicated on two things: cost of labor and cost of goods. Inflation around goods and inflation around wage pressure was, unfortunately, significantly higher and higher than what we were seeing in [average daily rate] growth," he said.
4. Famous former Los Angeles hotel catches fire
The former Morrison Hotel in Los Angeles, famous for being the namesake and album cover for The Doors' 1970 "Morrison Hotel" album, was badly burned by a fire on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
It had no official occupants in the building at the time of the fire, the Times reports. The cause of the fire is still unknown.
According to CoStar data, the property was built in 1914 and was most recently bought by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation for $11.9 million in 2023.
5. Inflation accelerates in Japan
Japan's core inflation increased 2.4% year over year in December, following November's year-over-year increase of 2.2%, Reuters reports. Services inflation, however, remained steady, which could lead to interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan in its next policy meeting next month.
"All respondents in a Reuters poll published earlier this month expected the BOJ to hike interest rates to 0.5% by March next year. Its decision to keep rates steady this month has heightened market attention on whether a hike would come at its next meeting on Jan. 23 to 24, or a subsequent rate review on March 18 to 19," the news outlet reports.