Owner Jubao Xie puts FiDi Holiday Inn hotel with $137M loan in bankruptcy

Hotel owner Jubao Xie filed a petition to place the 492-unit Financial District Holiday Inn hotel at 99 Washington Street, subject to a $137 million loan, into bankruptcy protection. The petition was filed in the Southern District of New York. LINK

Bloomberg reported on the filing yesterday, calling it the world’s tallest Holiday Inn.

PincusCo first reported the lender filed to foreclose on the loan in March 2022. In that case, in September 2022, the judge ordered the appointment of a temporary receiver. CASE LINK

The signatory for the petitioner was Jubao Xie, Managing Member of Hysendal USALLC, Sole Member. The president of Golden Seahorse LLC was identified in 2018 as Ziyi Xie.

According to the bankruptcy petition, “The Debtor operates the Hotel which is a full-service hotel located at 99 Washington Street, New York, NY 10006. In addition to the Hotel, the Debtor also owns an adjacent neighboring property at 103 Washington Street, New York, NY 10006, whereby the Debtor leases space to the Amazon Restaurant and Bar dba St. George Tavern among other retailers and residents. The Debtor constructed the Hotel between 2010 and 2014 and it opened for business in October 2014. Pursuant to a license/franchise agreement dated October 15, 2014, the Hotel operates under the Holiday Inn flagship/brand. The Hotel is fifty stories, the tallest Holiday Inn in the world and consists of 492 rooms and includes a full service restaurant at the Hotel.” A pdf of the court filing is here: Golden Seahorse.

In the foreclosure case, a special servicer representing bondholders of a securitized debt package, Midland Loan Services, filed to foreclose on a loan with an original principal of $137 million, provided in 2018, and secured by the 50-story, 492-room hotel in the Financial District at 99 Washington Street, according to the documents filed in New York State Supreme Court in March. The property was developed by Jubao Xie along with one of the city’s most active hotel developers, Sam Chang of McSam Hotel Group.

The originator of the loan in 2018 was Ladder Capital, but the debt is now owned by bondholders and Ladder is not involved in the foreclosure suit.

Chang filed plans for the 142,236-square foot project in 2006, and they were permitted in 2008. In 2014, the city issued the initial temporary certificate of occupancy.

Xie took complete control of the property that year, according to The Real Deal. The property was on the market for sale in 2017 for $300 million, The Real Deal reported, but it did not sell and instead Xie obtained the refinancing from Ladder Capital. That loan paid off a $135 million loan from Bank of China.

Many hotels have struggled during the pandemic, selling for steep discounts or to lenders in lieu of foreclosure.

Direct link to the property’s ACRIS page and link to DOB NOW portal.