Argent Ventures signs $212M refi loan with H&R REIT for hotel in Midtown West

Argent Ventures through the entity 1601 Broadway Owner LLC as borrower signed a refi loan with lender H&R REIT through the entity Times Square Portfolio Inc. valued at $212 million for the Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan hotel building (H1) at 1601 Broadway in Midtown West, Manhattan.
The deal closed on April 17, 2024 and was recorded on May 3, 2024. The property has 843,131 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The loan price per built square foot is $251 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 Argent Ventures was Andrew S. Penson. Argent Ventures obtained outside financing to pay off a prior loan given to Argent Ventures by an affiliate of Argent Ventures.

On December 28, 2022, Andrew Penson’s Argent Ventures and Vornado Realty Trust broke a long-running dispute over control and management of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, office, retail and signage at 1601 Broadway in Times Square, by filing a 63-page bankruptcy plan that envisions a potential sale of the asset. The filing notes Argent holds $418.8 million in senior debt, as well as a defaulted $80 million mezzanine loan.

The property

The hotel building in Midtown West has 843,131 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 203 feet and is 194 feet deep with a total lot size of 35,275 square feet. The lot is irregular. The zoning is C6-7T which allows for up to 14 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $186.8 million. The most recent loan totaled $320.5 million and was provided by Argent Ventures on May 3, 2022.

Violations and lawsuits

The property was involved in one lawsuit and one bankruptcy over the past two years. The suit was a $1 million money judgment concerning a retail lease filed on January 6, 2023, by Hersel Torkian and Torkian Group against Argent Ventures and Vornado Realty Trust. The bankruptcy was filed on December 28, 2022, by Argent Ventures, Vornado Realty Trust, Theatine Partners, and Richard J. Shinder citing assets of $418.8 million. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $6,740 in OATH penalties in the last year.

The neighborhood

In Midtown West, The majority, or 75 percent of the 75.9 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 14 percent of the space. In sales, Midtown West has the 3rd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.6 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Midtown West is the most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 26.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 34 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of five of the 11 commercial properties representing 1,459,816 square feet of the 1,578,897 square feet. The largest owner is Providence Equity Partners, followed by Dream Hotel Group and then Carlyle Group.
On the tax block, there was one new building construction project filed totaling zero square feet. It is a 136-unit residential (R-2) building submitted by Rex Hakimian with plans filed January 12, 2022 and permitted May 31, 2022.

The majority, or 61 percent of the 1.6 million square feet of built space are hotel buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space.

The borrower

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Argent Ventures owned at least one commercial property in New York City with 843,131 square feet and a city-determined market value of $186.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio consists of at least a single hotel property. It is located in Manhattan.