NEW YORK HOTELBUSINESS. has learned that a new Hampton Inn & Suites will be constructed at 1-3 East 35th Street, between Fifth and Madison Avenue in New York City. Plans call for a 29-story hotel to be erected on the site, after the existing vacant five-story building is demolished.
It was between Hampton and Hilton Gardens, said Scott Hartstein, chief underwriter for Hackensack, NJ-based SWH Funding Corp., which funded the acquisition of the land. They chose Hampton because the overall pro forma as far as how many rooms they were going to get and what they could charge [per night], [the Hampton Inn]would lead to better cash flow.
The owner of the land, an unidentified group out of Washington D.C., paid $5.4 million for the land, all of which was funded by SWH. Including closing costs, the owner paid nearly $1 million at closing, and in addition, provided SWH with a $1.4 million irrevocable letter of credit to secure payment of taxes, insurance and interest.
Construction is expected to cost approximately $25 million, of which the owner would contribute $7.5 million in cash. The estimated stabilized value of the hotel, once constructed, is $35 million. (9/25/00) Jay Nussbaum