Ian Schrager solidifies stake valued at $173.8M at Public Hotel in Lower East Side

Ian Schrager through the entity 215 Chrystie Mezz I LLC acquired an interest from the existing ownership of the hotel, through the entity 215 Chrystie Mezz LLC valued at $173.75 million for Public Hotel condo at 215 Chrystie Street in the Lower East Side, Manhattan.
This is an entity level transfer. In this highly litigated case, a UCC auction was scheduled for September 6, 2024. It’s unclear if this is the result of an auction that day, or if a separate transaction occurred, since the date of the transfer is more than a month after the scheduled transfer. The auctioneer, Eastdil Secured, and Ian Schrager did not respond to requests for comment.

The new owner is obligated to assume servicing the existing mortgage debt, $173.25 million, held by an entity called London Financial Debt Investments Ltd., in care of Madison Realty Capital.

The seller entity was a part of the ownership structure and was formed in 2012. The buyer entity was formed in April 2024.

The property has been subject to complex litigation, including 650026/2024 and Manhattan Chrystie Street Dev. Fund v. 215 Chrystie Investors LLC, et al. Index No. 651148/2021 (discovery); – Manhattan Chrystie Street Dev. Fund v. 215 Chrystie Investors LLC, et al. Appellate Case No.: 2023-03970; – Manhattan Christie Street Dev. Fund LLC v. The Witkoff Group et. al., Index No. 656516/2021 (discovery); – Youyi Chen et al. v. 215 Chrystie Venture LLC, Index No. 655908/2020 (discovery); – Manhattan Chrystie Street Dev. Fund v. 215 Chrystie Investors LLC, et al. Index No. 650026/2024 (pending motion to dismiss).
The deal closed on October 29, 2024 and was recorded on November 7, 2024. The property has 185,744 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $935 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.)

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Ian Schrager had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.

The property

The hotel condo in Lower East Side has 185,744 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has a total lot size of 185,744 square feet. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $103.5 million.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on October 5, 2020. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot. On the tax lot, the most recent condominium plan was filed by 215 CHRYSTIE LLC to create 11 residential units and 1 commercial units in a building at 215 Chrystie Street in Lower East Side, Manhattan, called 215 Chrystie Condominium that has a $118.4 million sellout, according to an April 17, 2014 submission to the New York State Attorney General. The principals of the sponsor, 215 CHRYSTIE LLC, were Scott Alper, Ian Schrager, James Stomber, Jr., and Steven Witkoff.

The neighborhood

In Lower East Side, The majority, or 51 percent of the 23.8 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 21 percent of the space. In sales, Lower East Side has near average sales volume among other neighborhoods with $258 million in sales volume in the last two years and is the 28th highest in Manhattan. For development, Lower East Side has had very little major development activity relative to other neighborhoods.It had 620,868 square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 3 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of two of the three commercial properties representing 167,453 square feet of the 172,352 square feet. The two identified owners are Cammeby’S International Group and Nyc Department Of Housing Preservation And Development.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 97 percent of the 172,352 square feet of built space are elevator buildings, with mixed-use buildings next occupying 3 percent of the space.

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