By: Benyamin Davidson
Midtown Manhattan’s Roger Smith Hotel has been sold.
The Roger Smith Hotel, a family-friendly art hotel at 501-507 Lexington Avenue on 47th street, was sold for $41.4 million. As reported by Crain’s NY, the 134-room, mid-range hotel, was purchased by Florida-based company, Timeshare Only, via its LLC, named Timeshare Acquisitions At Lexington LLC. The deal closed on February 8, 2022 and was recorded on February 25, 2022. In order to finance the purchase, Timeshare Acquisitions was able to secure an acquisition loan for $34 million from Western Alliance Bank.
The building boasts 92,501 square feet of built space, bringing the sale price per built square foot to $447, as per PincusCo analysis. It seems the hotel may have sold at a considerable discount, though it is not for certain, as there isn’t any price estimate or prior sales to compare to. It would not be surprising if the hotel was sold at a sizeable discount. As per Crain’s, overall the value of hotels in the city has dropped close to 20 percent since before the pandemic, down to a total of $26.3 billion from $32.7 billion, per city data. By contrast most other types of commercial real estate have kept roughly 92 percent of their value, post-pandemic.
The shuttered boutique hotel is close to 100-years old, first opened in 1929, it had prided itself on hosting live performances and its support for local artists. James Knowles, a painter and sculptor, was managing the Manhattan hotel since 1988. The Midtown hotel is likely the last of the group of eight hotels to still bearing the Roger Smith name.
Based on the recent acquisition, it seems like the hotel may be on its way to becoming a timeshare. Manhattan is not well-known for its long stay or time-share hotels, but they do exist. In fact, extended-stay hotels seemed to have fared better during the pandemic, which may be why it appealed to Timeshares Only.
As per Crain’s, there are currently other time shares in the neighborhood. The Quin, at 101 W. 57th St., was reopened in June by Hilton Grand Vacations, a timeshares company. In August, Hilton Grand Vacations also opened a new location at 12 E. 48th St., dubbed The Central. Marriott Vacations Worldwide also has the Marriott Vacation Club Pulse timeshare at 33 W. 37th St.
Representatives for Timeshares Only and Roger Smith did not respond to Crain’s request for comment.
