Chetrit Group Refinances Empire Hotel

Chetrit Group refinanced the Empire Hotel in Manhattan with the Podolsky family with a $135 million loan from Benefit Street Partners.

Chetrit paid down a significant amount of capital to secure the three-year loan for the famed 427-room hotel near Lincoln Center. The loan includes a $120 million senior loan and a $1 -million mezzanine loan. It retires an existing $180 million Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities loan.

“Our application was signed on December 17, the team underwrote and processed the transaction through the holidays and we funded January 10th,” said Michael Comparato of Benefit Street Partners said on Linkedin.

Chetrit and his partners on the Upper West Side hotel, the Podolsky brothers, negotiated a modification on the property’s $170 mortgage in 2022 after falling behind on payments. The partners got a two-year extension on the loan, which was in special servicing and reduced the interest rate.

Henry Bodek of Galaxy Capital brokered the new loan. The Promote first reported the news on X.

Joseph Chetrit, an enigmatic mogul, purchased the hotel for about $80 million in 2004, records show. The property was built in 1901 and underwent a renovation in 2013.

Chetrit is among the most active developers in New York City.

The Empire Hotel refinancing comes amid a wave of capital injections to refinance some of its marquee properties in New York City in South Florida. This includes a refinancing of the 121-unit condo project in Pompano Beach and redevelopment of the century-old Hollywood Beach Resort. The firm also refinanced a loan on its planned site of a 1,300-unit apartment development in Two Bridges, ending a foreclosure threat from Madison Realty Capital.