Meridian Arranges $135M in Financing for World’s Tallest Holiday Inn

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Meridian Capital Group, L.L.C., has facilitated a $135 million mortgage for the refinance of the Holiday Inn Manhattan-Financial District, a 50-story limited-service hotel property in New York City, on behalf of Sam Chang and Jubao Xie.

The two-year loan was provided by a national balance sheet lender and features a competitive floating-rate with interest-only payments for the full term.

“The success of the project is due to its proximity to many of downtown New York’s major attractions,” Emanuel Westfried, Meridian Capital Group’s vice president, told Commercial Property Executive. “This includes the World Trade Center Memorial, Brookfield Place, the historic Wall Street area, South Street Seaport and the soon to open Westfield World Trade Center, as well as numerous culinary and retail destinations in the immediate area.”

Located at 99-103 Washington St., just two blocks south of the World Trade Center, the hotel is comprised of 492 keys and is the tallest Holiday Inn in the world. Rooms feature scenic views of both the Freedom Tower and New Jersey.

The Holiday Inn Manhattan-Financial District opened this past October.

According to Westfried, the loan will be used to recapitalize the current sponsorship as its existing debt was $45 million from Cathay Bank, which was used to finance construction.

“The new lender was willing to provide $135 million in proceeds with no operating history and closed the same day the hotel opened for business,” Westfried added.

Back in July, Lesser Weiss Hospitality Advisors reported the average daily rate for the Financial District, or FiDi, which spans the southernmost portion of Manhattan below Chambers Street, was $260, with an overall occupancy rate of 83 percent producing revenue per available room (RevPAR) of $215.80.