Lender Foreclosing On Hotels In Houston, Dallas After $56M Loan Default
Lender Access Point Financial is foreclosing on a former Crowne Plaza Suites in Houston that was part of a portfolio of hotel properties tied to a $56M loan, public records show.
The 180K SF, nine-story building at 9090 Southwest Freeway near Sugar Land is set to be sold at the Harris County foreclosure auction next month after the borrower, an LLC tied to Florida-based Lockwood Development Partners, defaulted on the loan.
The $56.3M loan was issued in 2021 for three properties, all former Crowne Plaza hotels, in Houston, Austin and Addison, Texas, an Access Point Financial spokesperson confirmed to Bisnow.
Lockwood didn't respond to requests for comment.
The developer purchased the Houston property as part of a nine-hotel portfolio in 2021 with plans to repurpose the assets. It now lists only four hotels, all in Alabama, as part of its portfolio on its website.
Access Point already took ownership of the Addison property at 14315 Midway Road through an August foreclosure, public records show. It is marketing that property and plans to sell it via auction, the spokesperson said.
The Austin property at 6121 North Interstate 35 was sold in October 2022 and isn't subject to the foreclosure action. The sale significantly reduced the amount owed on the original loan, Access Point's spokesperson said, declining to specify by how much.
The former Crowne Plaza Suites Houston - Near Sugar Land is scheduled to be sold at the Harris County foreclosure auction scheduled for Nov. 7, according to online records. It is unclear when the hotel closed, but online records show the landlord terminated leases with tenants in October 2022.
The property's value has dropped substantially in recent years, according to Harris Central Appraisal District records, from $10.9M in 2019 to $4.8M this year.
The property has had multiple liens placed on it, including one from a construction company in March 2022 claiming to be owed $1.5M, according to online records.
The foreclosure process wipes out any junior liens, so the “lender is able to get the property back free and clear,” real estate attorney Shams Merchant recently told Bisnow.
Commercial properties are consistently appearing at the monthly Houston foreclosure auction, which has an Energy Corridor office high-rise and a multifamily complex included in the lineup this month. At least seven large-scale Houston multifamily complexes have been foreclosed on this year.
