SFs largest hotel, the Hilton Union Square, and the also very large Parc 55 have finally found an interested buyer, ending two years of limbo for a pair of SF’s most prominent downtown hotels.
The most embarrassing example of a trophy SF property that the owner had to default on remains the beleaguered former Westfield Mall that is now called the San Francisco Centre. That troubled mall’s auction was just delayed for the eighth time, now pushed to September 25, for unknown reasons that make it seem like there is scant interest in the property.
The second most embarrassing long-term languishing of defaulted properties are SF’s largest hotel the Hilton Union Square (333 O’Farrell Street) and the city’s fourth-largest Parc 55 hotel (55 Cyril Magnin Street). The owner of both hotels defaulted on their $725 million mortgage in 2023, and just abandoned the properties to their lenders. Both have sat without takers for more than two years, and have since seen their valuations were slashed in half.
But that long nightmare of receivership will apparently soon be over for both high-end hotels. The Chronicle reports both hotels have found a buyer — a collection of three New York-based hoteliers called Newbond and Conversant. The Chronicle had predicted the impending sale in June when they learned an unidentified buyer had signed a purchase-and-sale agreement.
“We think the sale of these hotels, which has been in the works for a while, is yet another indication that downtown San Francisco is on a great track,” an attorney for the court-appointed receiver told the Chronicle. On paper, the owner will be NB Acquisitions LLC, which is an affiliate of the three purchasing companies.
The sale price was redacted from the court documents in which the Chronicle made this discovery. The sale is not yet final, and won’t be until a September 25 court hearing (ironically, scheduled for the same day as the San Francisco Centre’s auction that probably won’t happen and will likely get delayed again).
You have probably never heard of Newbond or Conversant, as they have no properties in San Francisco. Newbond manages luxury hotel assets in New York and elswhere, and Conversant is more of a real estate lender.
The sale may be driven by San Francisco’s convention and tourism scene being on the upswing (despite fewer Canadian and Mexican tourists), plus we’ve got the Super Bowl and World Cup coming to the Bay Area next year. But the fact that these hotels are on the verge of being sold to hotelier companies means that the two hotels will probably not be converted to housing, as there had been some speculation last year that they would be.
Image: Hilton San Francisco Union Square via Yelp
*This story has been updated to reflect that the firm Witkoff is not involved with this deal.
