The International Business Times reports the Cooper Square Hotel has sold for $67.5 million to hotel operator Andrew Balasz and Ironstate Development Company. Previously it had been reported that the property had been sold for $91 million. Roland Li adds:
The 145-room hotel has nightly rates of around $300 to $400, but the previous owners ran into financial trouble after it opened in 2008. In December 2009, (the hotel’s lender) moved to foreclose on $52 million in debt, and construction contractors also sued for $9.9 million. Balasz plans to rebrand the property as the Standard East Village. It will be the fifth Standard Hotel, joining properties in Los Angeles, Miami Beach and Manhattan’s West Side. The hotel is said to be a “mellow alternative” to the West Side hotel, which has a boisterous rooftop party space. The new owners also plan to change the ground-floor restaurant.
