Marx Development Gets $88M in Financing for Hudson Yards Hotel

By Gail Kalinoski

450 11th Ave.

A 42-story, 235,000-square-foot Marriott-branded hotel planned by Marx Development Group for the $20 billion mixed-use Hudson Yards project on Manhattan’s Far West Side has received $88 million in financing from Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies. 

The 24-month loan was arranged by Meridian Capital Group and recapitalizes the project to cover the final pre-development financing. Meridian Managing Director Shaya Ackerman and Senior Vice President Shaya Sonnenschein, both based in the company’s New York City headquarters, negotiated the loan.

MDG is also raising $66 million in EB-5 funds through the Manhattan Regional Center for the hotel’s vertical construction.

Located at 450 11^th Ave. on the corner of West 37^th Street in Hudson Yards, the 441-key hotel will feature 3,000 square feet of retail as well as a business center, lounge, restaurant, banquet rooms and outdoor meeting space. It’s located directly across from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which is finishing its $1 billion renovation and expansion.

“The seamless navigation by Shaya Ackerman, and his excellent relationship with Mack is what allowed this transaction to close smoothly,” David Marx, principal of Marx Development Group, said in a prepared statement.

Meridian stated the Ackerman team has closed hundreds of deals aggregating to over $3 billion since it joined the national commercial real estate finance and advisory firm in 2015.

Meridian, MDG moves

Meridian also recently arranged the financing for MDG’s acquisition of four skilled nursing facilities in Indiana. Other MDG projects in Manhattan include the 29-story, 399-key Marriott hotel at 461 W. 34^th St., which recently obtained Chase Manhattan Bank as a retail tenant on the ground floor.

Last week, Meridian arranged $240 million in financing on behalf of the Hakimian Organization, owner of an 11-story office building at 636 11^th Ave. in Manhattan. Hakimian is using the proceeds from the 10-year loan to refinance the 560,000-square-foot property. Also in New York, Meridian secured $48 million in CMBS financing in January for an office building in Manhattan’s Soho neighborhood.

MDG expects construction of its hotel in Hudson Yards to be completed in late 2019. The first hotel to open in the 18 million-square-foot mega-development was Crowne Plaza HY36. Located at 320 W. 36^th St., the hotel opened in November. Designed by hospitality architecture firm Stonehill Taylor, it is owned by LRR Holdings and managed by InterContinental Hotels Group.

Construction on 15 Hudson Yards and 55 Hudson Yards, a condo and office building, are expected to be completed by the end of this year. Another office building, 50 Hudson Yards, should be finished by 2022. The 1.8 million-square-foot 10 Hudson Yards, the first office building to be completed at the development being built by Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group, recently received LEED Platinum certification.

Rendering courtesy of Meridian Capital Group