At auction, Manhattan-based Mack Real Estate has acquired a portfolio of seven hotels with 1,087 rooms in New York City. The properties are under the Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn and Candlewood Suites brands, and had been fully owned by a joint venture between Hersha Hospitality Trust and Chinese investment firm Cindat Capital Management until 2016, when the Philadelphia-based REIT sold a 70 percent majority interest to Cindat in a deal worth $571.4 million, or $526,000 per key,
Related: Hersha selling seven hotels to JV with China's Cindat
According to real estate site The Real Deal, the acquisition appears to be a major discount for the buyer. Mack paid transfer taxes on $315.8 million—or less than 40 percent of the portfolio’s 2016 value of $816.3 million—for the seven assets.
Earlier this year, Mack initiated UCC foreclosure proceedings against the former owners, who reportedly defaulted on an $85 million mezzanine loan issued in 2018 by Mack Real Estate Credit Strategies.
The portfolio was put up for auction on Jan. 21, and according to a transfer tax document filed with the city, Mack was the highest bidder.