Fate of Gramercy Park Hotel winds up going to court
BY DEAN MOSES
Solil Management is taking RFR
to court, putting the future of the
Gramercy Park Hotel in jeopardy.
On April 23, Solil Management fi led a
lawsuit against Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty in
an attempt to end its 72-year ground lease
and collect $79.5 million owed from their
contract deal.
First reported by The Real Deal–a real
estate news website—owner of Gramercy
Park Hotel Aby Rosen’s RFR Realty owed
approximately $900,000 in ground lease
payments to Solil Management (RFR
Holding does not own the land on which
it sits). The management company placed
an eviction notice onto the iconic hotel’s
doors in December demanding payment;
however, none was made and on March
17th RFR was served a notice of termination,
canceling their contract that would
have allowed Gramercy Park Hotel to
remain on the grounds until 2078.
For over a year the Gramercy Park
Hotel has remained shuttered since the
onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, sitting
as an empty shell of a bygone time that
once served massive cocktail parties. First
opened in 1925, the hotel is described as
landmark on its website, boasting luxurious
amenities, such as imported Italian
linens and exquisite artwork from the likes
of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat,
The entrance to Gramercy Park Hotel as it appeared on Dec. 23, when it
surfaced that the business may come to a halt.
all of which has been closed off to guests
since 2020.
In the lawsuit, Solil Management
claims that RFR Realty has been negligent
toward the property, allowing it
to fall in disrepair. The battle between
these two organizations has been an ongoing
affair. In 2006, Rosen and other
FILE PHOTO/DEAN MOSES
partners signed the 72-year lease with
Solil Management, which would offer $5
million per year for the land. However,
in 2010, Rosen bought out his partners,
becoming the sole owner of the hotel,
and tried to renegotiate the terms of his
contract to match the service industry’s
economic climate.
According to the Real Deal, it was
after Rosen’s RFR’s renegotiation that
Solil reported Rosen began removing
valuables from the property, such as the
precious art boasted on their website
and then ceased in making rent and tax
payments. Within the court records,
The Real Deal also shared, that RFR
has the funds to pay what they owe to
Solil Management after receiving $6.3
million in federal paycheck protection
program loans.
The Gramercy Park Block Association
has been keeping a keen eye on this matter
since the Northside of the area is not
landmarked.
“This is an issue that the Gramercy Park
Block Association is following particularly
closely since Gramercy Park North, with
the exception of Calvary Church, is not in
the Gramercy Park Historic District and
therefore the buildings there, including the
hotel, are not landmarked. This means that
there are fewer restrictions on what can be
done with the property,” Arlene Harrison
President of the Gramercy Park Block
Association, wrote in a newsletter to its
members.
“The status of Maialino restaurant,
which many of you have also been asking
me about, is tied to that of the hotel, and
the restaurant will not be able to reopen
until the hotel opens,” she wrote, alerting
individuals to the ongoing issue.
Manhattan rents continue to fall, inventory doubles
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Over a year later, Manhattan rents
are continuing to fall as a result of
the pandemic.
According to a new report from Street-
Easy.com, asking rents have been dropping
consistently throughout the COVID-19
pandemic. During the fi rst quarter of
2021, the StreetEasy Rent Index dropped
by 16.8% year-over-year in Manhattan,
with rents falling to a new low of $2,700
a month. During the fi rst quarter of 2020,
the median asking rent in Manhattan was
$3,417.
According to the report’s findings,
Manhattan saw a new low overall, certain
neighborhoods had bigger declines than
others. Midtown saw a 14.8% decline during
the fi rst quarter of this year, the most
dramatic decrease in the borough, falling to
a median price of $2,895. Following close
behind is the Upper East Side, dropping
13.9% to $2,400.
Compared to the rest of the borough,
Upper Manhattan — covering Washington
Heights, Harlem and Inwood — has the
lowest decrease in rents with a 9.4% drop.
The median asking rent for the area was
$2,150, the lowest it has been since 2015.
According to StreetEasy’s findings,
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
New York City renters also found a record
number of rentals offering free months of
rent. In Manhattan, 44.2% of landlords advertised
a concession in the form of at least
one month’s rent, which is 22 percentage
points higher year-over-year.
During the fi rst quarter of 2021, the
amount of rental inventory in Manhattan
was more than twice as high compared to
the fi rst quarter of 2020. Though the inventory
has doubled, the report found that the
number of available apartments has fallen
for the past two quarters. However, it is
believed that rental activity will pick up
over the summer of 2021.
“With the weather getting warmer and
more people rolling up their sleeves to
get vaccinated, New Yorkers are starting
to feel a sense of normalcy. As this
continues, the rate that apartments come
off the market will continue to ramp
up,” said StreetEasy economist Nancy
Wu.“Renters don’t need to rush to sign
a new lease this second to claim a great
deal, though. It will take time for prices
to rebound. But the rentals market does
react to economic activity much more
quickly than the sales market. As the city
continues to recover, competition will
slowly start to pick up.”
Read the full report at streeteasy.com.
10 April 29, 2021 Schneps Media
/Easy.com
/streeteasy.com
