Aya Picks Up Cassa Hotel in Midtown for $55M

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Aya New York is making a bold play in Midtown Manhattan.

Aya Acquisitions is scooping up the Cassa Hotel for $54.7 million after years of financial turbulence surrounding the property, the Commercial Observer reported.

The co-living company, through its Highgate 2 Hotel entity, bought three commercial condo units at 66-70 West 45th Street — the 165-key hotel and its ground-floor retail — from the scattered remains of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group.

The acquisition includes a $34.6 million mortgage issued by OakNorth Bank, according to Crain’s.

The sale comes after a long foreclosure battle. HNA lost the 48-story, 123,000-square-foot tower — which includes a separate 57-unit residential component — in an auction tied to a $64 million loan default.

The debt mess was part of the conglomerate’s massive bankruptcy workout in 2021, when the HNA was forced to shed global real estate holdings acquired during a buying spree; the conglomerate’s since been sold off and appears defunct.

The hotel itself, opened in 2010, has long been pitched as a sleek Bryant Park alternative. Amenities include a fitness center, wellness room, storage and on-site restaurant Butter, helmed by celebrity chef Alex Guarnaschelli.

Aya, led by founder Amir Shriki, is best known for its co-living apartments, fully furnished rooms rented out individually. What it plans to do with a Midtown hotel is less clear, but the buy signals Aya is extending beyond small-scale multifamily acquisitions.

In early 2022, the firm picked up a 25-unit Upper East Side rental at 240 East 90th Street for nearly $15 million in cash.

Last year, Aya added a pair of Upper West Side multifamily buildings at 120 and 125 Riverside Drive to its portfolio for $31 million, a fraction of the $85 million they traded hands for in 2013.

Other recent activity in Midtown’s hotel market includes the sale of the Stewart Hotel from Jack Yadidi’s Sioni Group and Isaac Chetrit’s Patriarch Equities to Slate Property Group and the nonprofit Breaking Ground for approximately $275 million. The buyers are reportedly eyeing a conversion to affordable housing.

— Holden Walter-Warner