RLJ Buys Doubletree Metropolitan in Manhattan for $355MM

RLJ Hotels has cut a $335 million deal for a Midtown hotel known for its striking architecture.

The upscale Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel is the third hotel that Mr. Johnson's RLJ Development has bought in Manhattan since 2008. He also bought the Hilton Garden Inn at 63 W. 35th St. and the Fashion 26 Hotel at 152 W. 26th St. for more than $100 million each.

"These assets are compliant with our investment strategy to buy high-caliber real estate," RLJ Development President Thomas J. Baltimore Jr. said in an interview Friday. "In New York, we have significant demand growth and high barriers to entry." Read the article here in the WSJ or read more about it here at real capital analytics

Breaking News: W Hotels (Tuscany & Court) Finally Sell - To Become St. Giles New York

After months and months of radio silence, there is finally some news regarding the sale of Starwood's two NYC W hotels on 39th Street....and also here.

The hotel will drop the W brand and will be knows as the St. Giles New York. Congrats to the new owners -- you got a great deal on these hotels! We were runners up on this deal, so naturally we're excited to see what your plans are for the two properties. 

Here is how Starwood deals with hotels that are leaving it's system.

Helmsley Carlton House Sells for $170MM

The estate of real-estate baroness Leona Helmsley has signed a deal to sell one of its prime Manhattan hotels for about $170 million, in a sign that investor appetite is keen for trophy assets.

The sale of the Helmsley Carlton House to a venture of private-equity firm Angelo, Gordon & Co. and Extell Development Co. also marks the beginning of the final act of the Helmsley saga in which the properties accumulated over four decades by the late Harry Helmsley are going to be sold.

When Mrs. Helmsley, who inherited the empire, died in August 2007, her estate began moving to sell properties. But those plans were shelved when the credit crunch and recession unhinged the commercial real-estate market.

While that sector is still suffering from the downturn, a growing volume of distressed property and trophy assets are attracting attention from investors who have accumulated large war chests in hopes of taking advantage of market woes. The buyer of the Carlton House, Angelo Gordon, raised a total of $2 billion in 2006 and 2007 and had spent only 25% of that capital until mid-2009, when the firm began buying again, according to an investor in its funds. Located in the heart of the tony Madison Avenue shopping district, the retail space in Carlton House is among the most valuable in the world. [ read more ]

Visions of NYC

This is a very cool tilt-shift photography compilation by Sam O'Hare:

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Cooper Union Building - Built in 5 minutes

I thought this time lapse of the Morphosis designed Cooper Union engineering building was pretty cool.