The ownership interest in the Graduate by Hilton Providence — the downtown tower generations of Rhode Islanders still call the Biltmore — is headed to a public auction in New York early next year, after a legal notice disclosed more than $36 million in unpaid mortgage debt tied to the property. The notice lists an unpaid principal balance of $36,348,298 as of September 1, 2026, against a first-priority mortgage loan that originally totaled $43,192,500.
According to GoLocalProv, which first reported the filing, the auction is scheduled for January 20, 2027, to be held at the New York County Courthouse in front of the New York Supreme Court. The notice identifies Acore Capital Mortgage, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, as the administrative agent for lenders under the mezzanine loan agreements connected to the debt. It also names Biltmore Providence Lessee LLC as the entity holding the leasehold interest in the Dorrance Street property.
A Downtown Landmark With a Complicated Ownership History
The hotel sits at 11 Dorrance Street in downtown Providence, where it has anchored the city's skyline since opening in 1922. GoLocalProv's report notes the property is best known to Rhode Islanders simply as the Biltmore, a name that persists locally even though the building has operated under the Graduate banner since 2019.
AJ Capital Partners acquired the hotel in 2017, according to contemporaneous reporting and deed records cited by the Providence Journal. In October 2017, Commercial Observer reported that ACORE Capital had lent AJ Capital Partners $44.3 million to acquire and refurbish the historic Biltmore, and the Providence Journal reported at the time that deed records showed the hotel sold for $43,552,500.
How the Graduate Brand Changed Hands
The Providence property's current structure traces back to a 2024 deal that separated the Graduate brand from the real estate underneath it. Hilton announced an agreement with AJ Capital in March 2024 to acquire the Graduate Hotels brand worldwide for $210 million, according to CoStar, while AJ Capital retained ownership of the underlying real estate, including the Providence hotel. Under that arrangement, Hilton took over franchise agreements and future development of the brand, while AJ Capital remained the owner of more than 35 operating and pipeline Graduate properties.
That split between brand and bricks-and-mortar has continued to shape the portfolio's finances. Commercial Observer's reporting from September notes AJ Capital sealed a $303.5 million loan to refinance seven properties in its Graduate Hotels portfolio, a 1,340-key collection concentrated in university-anchored markets, with Hilton operating the hotels under franchise agreements while AJ continued to own the properties. The same report notes Acore Capital had previously made a $225 million preferred equity investment in the Graduate Hotels collection back in May 2021.
A Second Property Also Named in the Filing
The Providence hotel is not the only property named in the legal notice. A Cincinnati property is listed with its own first-priority mortgage loan, originally $26,213,000, which carried an unpaid principal balance of $21,953,989 as of September 1, 2026 — the same date cited for the Providence debt.
AJ Capital Partners describes its broader portfolio as $5.9 billion in assets spread across more than 100 properties in over 50 geographic markets, and the company's materials list the Providence property among its holdings. AJ Capital did not respond to requests for comment, according to GoLocalProv's reporting.
Precedent From Another City's Hotel Auction
Lender-driven hotel auctions have played out elsewhere recently. In Washington, D.C., the Line DC Hotel sold at auction to its own lender, Acore Capital, according to Bisnow. That outlet reported Acore submitted a $1 million credit bid that incorporated the value of the $86 million loan it already held, and no other bidders came forward. It remains unknown whether a similar outcome awaits the Providence property when its own auction date arrives in January.
A Building Woven Into Providence History
Long before its finances became the subject of a New York courthouse filing, the Biltmore carved out a layered history in downtown Providence. The hotel was designed by New York architects Warren and Wetmore and opened in 1922 with a celebration attended by more than 1,000 people and lit by more than 25,000 lights, under original owners John Bowman and Louis Wallick. Its distinctive V-shaped design gave every guest room an outside view, a signature feature that set it apart from other hotels of its era.
The building weathered the 1938 Great Hurricane and 1954's Hurricane Carol, and in the early 1930s, future organized-crime figure Raymond Patriarca worked there as a bellboy. The hotel closed from 1974 to 1979 before local businessmen purchased and rehabilitated it, reopening it as the Biltmore Plaza Hotel. Former Providence mayor Buddy Cianci later helped efforts to have the hotel designated a landmark. Finard Properties purchased the hotel for $16 million in 2012, a renovation expected to create more than 50 jobs, and the building has also made cameo appearances on screen, featured in 2004's The Last Shot and 2007's 27 Dresses, as well as in episodes of Brotherhood filmed between 2004 and 2007.
AJ Capital Partners announced in 2017 that the Biltmore would be renamed Graduate Providence, a change that took effect in 2019. Despite the rebrand, the hotel's rooftop signage has stayed put — Scott Williams has said the Graduate brand aims to enhance the Biltmore's historical elements, and that the roof sign would remain, noting the Graduate sign itself is real neon rather than LED. GoLocalProv's report indicates that signage is expected to stay in place for the foreseeable future, even as the ownership interest beneath it heads toward the auction block.
