Midtown hotel trades for $38M in another slow week for midsize i-sales

A hotel near Times Square traded for $38 million last week, highlighting another slow stretch for mid-sized investment sales — it was one of just three deals for commercial properties valued between $10 million and $40 million to hit city records between Jan. 16 and Jan. 20.

A fourth trade last week fell just outside the mid-market range of this report: Moinian Group’s $50 million sale of a shuttered Holiday Inn and adjacent development site near LaGuardia Airport. Investment firm Bayrock Capital bought the site, which comes with plans for a 103-unit, 421a-qualified apartment building.

Each of last week’s mid-market deals were in Manhattan:

1. Singaporean hospitality company Ascott Limited bought the Citadines Connect Fifth Avenue New York hotel near Times Square at 15 West 45th Street in Midtown for $38 million. The seller was Morgan Stanley subsidiary Eaton Vance’s Real Estate Investment Group.The 21-story, 44,800-square-foot hotel was last sold in 2017, when it was known as the Hotel Central Fifth Avenue. Ascott Limited, which operates the Citadines Connect chain of business hotels, opened the 125-key lodging in 2018, marking the brand’s first location in the U.S.
2. Social services organization Care for the Homeless bought a hotel that’s expected to be converted to a homeless shelter at 91 East Broadway in Chinatown for $16.5 million from Dragon Realty LLC. The property, formerly the Hotel 91, has been proposed for a 120-bed shelter and community facility, CBS New York reported last year.The city hired Care for the Homeless to run the proposed shelter, according to Gothamist, though the plan has drawn pushback from community groups. The seven-story, 39,000-square-foot property was last sold in 2000 for an unknown amount.
3. A pair of condo units, one commercial and one residential, that make up the mixed-use townhouse at 31 Perry Street in the West Village sold for $16.5 million. Both buyer and seller used LLC’s. The four-story, 8,700-square-foot townhouse dates to 1901 and was marketed two years ago for use as a business with upstairs living space or conversion to a single-family mansion. The buyer’s plans for the property aren’t clear.