AKA Wall Street Is The Latest NYC Hotel To Close For Good

Crowdfunding platform Prodigy Network’s extended stay hotel AKA Wall Street in the Financial District is permanently closing its doors, as the company fends off multiple lawsuits from investors.

The 19-story hotel at 84 William St. temporarily closed at the end of March, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the state's Department of Labor. That closure became permanent as of Aug. 24, per an updated filing made public Tuesday with 31 workers affected. The company contact listed on the notice didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The extended-stay hotel, at the corner of Maiden Lane, is owned by Prodigy, the crowdfunding platform that has been mired in trouble for months.

In June, investors at the property took legal action against the company, claiming they tried to redeem their shares but had not been paid out, Commercial Observer reported.

Then last week, Prodigy was sued by a group of 50 investors, The Real Deal reported. The investors claim they are owed $13M for their investment in a planned coworking project “the Assemblage” at 331 Park Ave. South. They are alleging they were lied to, and that returns they were promised were instead paid to the company’s late CEO, Rodrigo Niño.

Niño, who formed the company in 2013, died in May. In the months following his death, investors claimed they were given no information regarding the future of the projects or the funds they had provided, according to Commercial Observer.

The hotel industry is significantly strained in New York City right now, with occupancy down and many temporary layoffs now becoming permanent, as Bisnow reported last month. AKA Wall Street joins the ranks of the Hilton Times Square, The W Hotel Downtown and Midtown's The Maxwell and Omni Berkshire hotels in New York hospitality properties closing for good.