| The Elysian was once touted as the first in a new brand of luxury hotels and was ranked the No. 1, among the top hotels in America by Conde Nast Traveler. So why did its developer decide to sell? There was just a lot of interest from investors all over the world, JLL's Robert Webster tells us. Sam Zell's Zell Credit Opportunity Funds bought the 188-key ultra-luxury boutique hotel for $95M. The Zell fund was developed to take advantage of over-leveraged assets and businesses (our reporter was too busy preparing the Thanksgiving stuffing to find out how levered the Lucien Lagrange-designed 1920s-style building was). | |
| We snapped Sam (we think that's him in the center) at the DLA Piper Summit last year. The Zell fund won't manage or have any interest in the condo portion of the building at 11 E Walton, which sold out last month. Hilton spokesman John Vanderslice says that the Elysian's high style matches the Waldorf-Astoria's reputation for design and amenities. The hotel includes a 14k SF spa and two restaurants, Balsan and RIA. It will officially change names on Feb. 1. |
WHY THE ELYSIAN BECAME THE WALDORF
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Robert Webster, Sam Zell
