Magna Hospitality Group sells hotel in Chelsea for $168.6M

An anonymous buyer in care of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer through the entity Mocha 24th LLC paid $168.6 million to Magna Hospitality Group through the entity Chelsea 24th Street LLC for the Motto by Hilton New York City Chelsea hotel building (H2) at 113 West 24th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan. The expected use is cash flowing.
The deal closed on September 30, 2025 and was recorded on October 6, 2025. The property has 154,812 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $1,089 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 seller bought the development site on October 17, 2019, for $74.2 million, then constructed the hotel. The signatory for Magna Hospitality Group was Douglas C. Stevens . The signatory for Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer registered was Gregory Weingart . The contract date was September 30, 2025.

The buyer financed the acquisition with a $105 million loan from Apollo Global Management.

Prior sales and revenue

The seller Magna Hospitality Group purchased one property in one transaction for a total of $143.9 million and had not sold any properties over the past two years. The 154,812-square-foot property generated revenue of $39.9 million or $258 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.

The property

The hotel building in Chelsea has 154,812 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 75 feet and is 94 feet deep with a total lot size of 7,112 square feet. The zoning is M1-6 which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for manufacturing The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $84.7 million. Wells Fargo on October 17, 2024 bought a loan with an original principal of from signed by Douglas C. Stevens, secured by 113-117 West 24th Street, when owned by Magna Hospitality Group.

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 $10,680 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot building, it received its initial certificate of occupancy on January 16, 2020. On the lot, there are two active new building construction projects and major alteration projects with initial costs more than $5 million, totaling 268,467 square feet. The largest, 121187214, is a new building project for a 341-unit, 141,734 square-foot R-1 building submitted by Lam Generation and filed by Jeffrey Lam with plans filed September 17, 2014 and permitted February 3, 2016. The second largest, 121204598, is a new building project for a 375-unit, 126,733 square-foot hotel (R-1) building submitted by Sal Aquilato with plans filed February 14, 2018 and permitted July 29, 2020.

The neighborhood

In Chelsea, The bulk, or 35 percent of the 52.5 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with elevator buildings next occupying 28 percent of the space. In sales, Chelsea has the 6th highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $1.5 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Chelsea has 1.9 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 13th highest in Manhattan. It had 2.8 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 5 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other hotel buildings in the past 12 months.

The block

On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of 12 of the 25 commercial properties representing 731,084 square feet of the 1,107,133 square feet. The largest owner is Lam Generation, followed by Kaufman Organization and then Magna Hospitality Group.
On the tax block, there were five new building construction projects totaling 329,947 square feet. The largest is a 341-unit, 141,734 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Lam Generation and filed by Jeffrey Lam with plans filed September 17, 2014 and permitted February 3, 2016. The second largest is a 375-unit, 126,733 square-foot hotel/dormitory/shelter (R-1) building submitted by Sal Aquilato with plans filed February 14, 2018 and permitted July 29, 2020.

The majority, or 49 percent of the 1.1 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 36 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Magna Hospitality Group owned at least seven commercial properties in New York City with 1,103,272 square feet and a city-determined market value of $399.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $1.2 billion in debt, with top three lenders as Wells Fargo, KSL Capital Partners, and PIMCO respectively. Within the portfolio, all identified are hotel properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

The buyer

The PincusCo database currently indicates that Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer Registered owned at least two commercial properties in New York City with 337,805 square feet and a city-determined market value of $111.1 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, all identified are hotel properties. They are all located in Manhattan.

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