Värde Partners, a global alternative investment firm, and Hawkins Way Capital, a real estate company, have acquired 525 Lexington Avenue, a 655-room non-operating hotel in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan.
Originally called the Shelton, the property is a 35-story, 406,000 square foot building currently configured as a 655 key hotel with over 16,000 square feet of meeting space, including two double height ballrooms, an outdoor terrace on the 16th floor, a penthouse fitness center and a large restaurant and lounge space on the ground floor. This acquisition brings the total capitalization of the joint venture formed by Värde Partners and Hawkins Way Capital to over $1 billion within its first year with a portfolio of eight add-on hospitality and housing assets in the U.S.
“Our strategy for the joint venture has not changed: we aim to build a high quality, inflation protected, and cash flow generative portfolio,” comments Tim Mooney, partner at Värde Partners. “Coming out of the pandemic, we continue to find distressed hospitality and select housing assets in prime locations in major gateway cities where we can drive this opportunity.”