Blackstone backs Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, Maryland

Blackstone has provided an $83m acquisition loan to Highgate Hotels and The Meridian Group for the acquisition of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, Maryland, Real Estate Capital has first learned.

The loan funds the purchase and renovation of the 12-story, 390-room hotel. The loan-to-cost on the deal, factoring in the renovations, works out to 65%, said a source familiar with the deal.

Blackstone originated the floating rate loan out of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (BXMT), a public mortgage REIT that is part of Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS), the firm’s commercial real estate lending platform.

The Highgate/Meridian joint venture purchased the property from special servicer LNR Partners following a foreclosure auction held on behalf of a CMBS trust tied to a previous $140m securitized mortgage on the property.

Located just eight miles south of The White House at One Bethesda Metro Center, the hotel features more than 20,000 sq ft of function space, an indoor pool and heated whirlpool, a 24-hour fitness center, a Morton’s Steakhouse and Daily Grill restaurant.

Meridian was part of a previous ownership group at the hotel; the firm purchased it, along with the adjacent Three Bethesda Metro Center office building, for a total of $118m in 1999 before Rockwood Capital bought a stake in 2004.

The firm completed a previous renovation of the hotel and its common areas, creating additional rooms and bringing in the Morton’s Steak House and Daily Grill restaurants.

BXMT has provided a spate of recent loans on high-quality — and often high-profile — assets across the US, most recently including a $320m first mortgage loan to refinance the iconic Woolworth Building in New York City.