Maverick Real Estate Partners has landed a construction loan for a partly finished hotel project near Penn Station.
Related Companies provided the $107 million loan for the project at 255 West 34th Street, which Maverick seized from Chetrit Group in 2023.
It’s an unusual move for Maverick, which is typically a buyer of distressed debt, not a borrower. Maverick managing partner David Aviram, who signed for the loan, declined to comment. The loan was first reported by PincusCo.
In 2023, Maverick filed a lawsuit against Chetrit Group and its president, Meyer Chetrit, who personally guaranteed the debt on the project. The lawsuit alleged that Chetrit neglected mature loans and failed to complete the 323-key, 33-story hotel by the end of 2021, as required by a loan agreement.
Chetrit purchased the site in 2014 and began construction on the 155,000-square-foot project in 2019, tapping IHG Hotels & Resorts to operate the hotel before the pandemic halted construction and devastated the city’s hotel market.
Maverick bought $110 million in debt on the project in May 2022, a month after the loans matured, according to the lawsuit, and called on Chetrit to pay what it owed. The lender sought $19 million to cover the principal of the loans, plus interest and demanded that Chetrit either finish the hotel or pay the $106.4 million required to complete the project.
It filed to foreclose and had planned to hold an auction. Led by Aviram and Ted Martell, Maverick is a prolific debt buyer. The firm has a reputation for going after distressed loans secured by major landlords and has drawn criticism from some who consider its tactics to be overly aggressive.
In 2023, Aviram and fellow co-founder Ted Martell told The Real Deal in a statement: “Maverick is not interested in owning and managing real estate.”
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