AEW Capital Management signs $50M initial loan with BMO for hotel in Midtown East

AEW Capital Management through the entity E 48th Hotel Operator LLC as borrower signed a initial loan with lender BMO Bank valued at $50 million for the hotel building (H3) at 144 East 48th Street in Midtown East, Manhattan.
The deal closed on April 9, 2026 and was recorded on April 10, 2026. The property has 114,500 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $436 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The signatory for AEW Capital Management was Anthony Crooks .

Prior sales, articles and revenue

The owners according to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development includes Steven Sechko, head officer and Greg Dietl, site manager. The business entity is E 48th Hotel Owner Llc. The 114,500-square-foot property generated revenue of $26.1 million or $228 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The hotel building in Midtown East has 114,500 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 100 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 10,091 square feet. The zoning is C6-4.5 which allows for up to 12 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $40.4 million.

Transaction Participants

Kathryn M. Moore at Dorsey & Whitney LLP participated in the transaction on behalf of the lender.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the property for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $5,000 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Midtown East, The majority, or 81 percent of the 62.6 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 7 percent of the space. In sales, Midtown East has the 2nd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.9 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Midtown East is the 3rd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 20.7 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 33 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 12 commercial properties representing 992,985 square feet of the 1,053,867 square feet. The largest owner is Island Capital Group, followed by Madison Realty Capital and then AEW Capital Management.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling 151,836 square feet. It is a 137-unit, 151,836 square-foot residential (R-2) building submitted by New Empire Corp. and filed by Bentley Zhao with plans filed March 28, 2016 and permitted August 12, 2021.

The majority, or 54 percent of the 1.1 million square feet of built space are hotel buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 44 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that aew capital management owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 202,980 square feet and a city-determined market value of $48.9 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 56 percent of the 202,980 square feet of built space are hotel properties, with office properties next occupying 44 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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