Standard Hotel Could Sell To Hong Kong Investor For Surprisingly Low Price
The Standard, High Line Hotel, which straddles Manhattan's High Line elevated park, is reportedly nearing a sale to a Hong Kong investor in a deal with more than a few surprises.
Gaw Capital Partners is in advanced talks to purchase the Standard for $340M from Dune Capital Management and Greenfield Partners, the New York Post reports. The building was under contract in 2014 to be sold for $400M to Standard International, which manages Standard-brand hotels, but the sale quietly fell through.
Few outside of the failed 2014 transaction realized that Dune and Greenfield still owned the property until details about the potential sale to Gaw for $60M less became known.
The drop in value coincides with declines in occupancy rate, per-room revenue, and food and beverage revenue, according to the Post. The Standard, High Line has been hit, like many New York hotels, by an unprecedented supply of new rooms, with an all-time record of 115,145 available, with 16,000 more under construction.
Although the hotel remains a striking piece of a well-regarded public space, it was constructed in 2009 and faces tough competition from newer deliveries. Cushman & Wakefield broker Tom McConnell, who is unaffiliated with the sale, pointed specifically to the Standard's food and beverage component as a driver of its value drop and told the Post it is “similar to the diminution in values that we’ve seen around the city.”
