The 12-story building at 511 Ninth Avenue in Hudson Yards, once home to the Cassa Hotel, has changed hands after a foreclosure auction stripped its longtime owner of control. Capital Insight, the firm that had been the property's lender and debt holder, acquired the site at a price reported between $68 million and $71.3 million, taking over retail space, parking and six commercial condominium units in the process.
The sale marks the end of the road for Assa Properties, which had controlled the building, according to The Real Deal. As reported by Commercial Observer, the auction followed financial troubles tied to the property, which had gone into special servicing through CW Capital Asset Management before Capital Insight moved to foreclose.
A Building With a Long, Complicated History
Assa Properties owned the site before the surrounding Hudson Yards megaproject transformed the neighborhood. The building operated for years as the Cassa Hotel, which shut down in 2020.
After the hotel closed, Assa Properties reportedly harbored plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use project called the Galerie515 Hotel & Condominium Residences. Assa Properties could not be reached for comment, and Capital Insight did not respond to a request for comment from the Observer, that outlet's report notes.
Steakhouse Lease Left in Limbo
A lease with Vida Steakhouse was reported for retail space at the property. Commercial Observer's report states that the steakhouse is set to open in the space next year, but it remains unclear whether that lease will proceed now that Capital Insight owns the building. The building otherwise retains its retail space and parking availability, and the new owner plans to use the six commercial condominium units as a cash-flowing asset going forward.
Capital Insight's Growing Hospitality Portfolio
Capital Insight has also been involved in other hotel projects.
Capital Insight is also planning to convert a former Four Points by Sheraton hotel near Los Angeles International Airport into one-bedroom affordable housing apartments. That project, a partnership with Kingdom Development, would turn the existing seven-, eight- and nine-story buildings into 572 one-bedroom units, with 229 of those reserved for renters earning up to 80 percent of the area median income, according to an earlier report from The Real Deal.
Hudson Yards Development Still in Flux
The foreclosure sale lands amid other unresolved real estate questions in the neighborhood. New York City's Industrial Development Agency this week postponed a vote on a proposed tax break for Tishman Speyer's planned tower at 99 Hudson Boulevard, underscoring how much public money is still tied up in the district's next wave of construction even as older properties like 511 Ninth Avenue change hands through distress.
