NEW YORK CITY Host Hotels & Resorts has purchased the 773-key New York Helmsley Hotel for between US$310 million and US$315 million, with plans to inject another US$50 million into the tired upscale hotel.
CB Richard Ellis represented the estate of Leona Helmsley in the transaction, which is expected to close near the end of the first quarter, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Bethesda, Maryland-based Host will pay between US$401,000 and US$408,000 per key for the 42nd Street icon. The property has been on the open market since October, and more than a dozen potential suitors were reported to have placed bids for the hotel.
The Helmsley Hotels portfolio once totaled 21 properties, including some of the most famous hotels in New York. With the sale of The New York Helmsley, only two properties remain—the 46-story Helmsley Park Lane Hotel, New York, and The Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel in Sarasota, Florida.
Proceeds from the sale of the Helmsley assets go to the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.
