Dealmaker: Berkadia Secures $84M for New York Hotel-to-Multifamily Conversion

Berkadia secured $84 million in stretch senior financing for Emmut Properties, New York, to acquire Excelsior Hotel on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.

Emmut Properties acquired the 126-room hotel, which closed in April 2020, for $80 million and plans to convert it into a 134-unit multifamily property. The transaction’s total capitalization exceeds $100 million.

Senior Managing Director Chinmay Bhatt and Managing Directors Noam Franklin and Cody Kirkpatrick of Berkadia JV Equity & Structured Capital secured $84 million from real estate investment trust Franklin BSP Realty Trust, New York. The financing package included a $74 million senior bridge loan and a $10 million mezzanine loan, both with 18-month terms and three single-year extension options. The senior note included $9 million in future-funding commitments to help cover the cost of converting the Excelsior to a multifamily property.

Built in the 1920s as an apartment building, the 15-story Excelsior Hotel at 45 West 81st Street converted to a hotel in the mid-20th century. It is located between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue across from the American Museum of Natural History.

Emmut Properties said it expects apartment leasing to begin in first-half 2023.

The Berkadia team has closed more than $150 million in financing for Emmut Properties including a residential building at 433 West 53rd Street and a mixed-use building at 138 Bowery.