Developers score $121M loan to finish former Standard Hotel

Hoteliers Ed Scheetz and Ian Schrager have secured a three-year, $121 million construction loan from iBorrow to fund the redevelopment of the former Standard Hotel in West Hollywood, according to The Real Deal.

The Standard Hotel was previously operated by Standard International, which closed the hotel in 2021 after the former owner, Rittersbacher Group, and leaseholder, Ferrado Group, raised rent prices. Scheetz and Schrager purchased the 139-room hotel in early 2023 for $112.5 million, financing the acquisition with an $86.7 million loan from a co-lending partnership between iBorrow and Reuben Brothers. The new $121 million loan refinances the original debt tied to the property.

“We’ve observed that the hospitality sector has experienced increasing demand in gateway cities, including Los Angeles, and we are confident in the ability of this successful and experienced team of hotel operators to execute on their plan as West Hollywood continues to draw tourists,” Andy Peltz, co-executive chairman at iBorrow, commented when the original loan was provided.

Both Scheetz and Schrager have notable backgrounds in the hotel industry. Scheetz, the former CEO of Chelsea Hotels, King & Grove Hotels, and Morgans Hotel Group, and Schrager, who owns Edition and Public, plan to operate the redeveloped hotel under the Public brand.

Last month, they obtained a conditional use permit to serve alcohol on the premises.

The redevelopment of the Standard Hotel is not the first time Scheetz and Schrager have attempted to rescue a struggling hotel. In early 2023, they tried to partner with developer Chetrit Group to save the Bossert Hotel in Brooklyn Heights, New York, and rebrand it under Schrager’s Public line. However, the effort to raise an additional $26 million in investment fell through, and the building went into foreclosure, selling to an affiliate of Beach Point Capital Management in May.