The former lender of a prominent hotel along Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles\u2019 Koreatown has snatched up the property nearly six months after a default by the previous owner.<\/p>\n
Corten Real Estate Partners<\/a><\/b> paid $68 million for The Line LA<\/b>, a 384-key hotel developed in 2014 by an entity tied to billionaire investor Ron Burkle<\/a><\/b> and his firm Yucaipa Companies<\/a><\/b>, according to Traded<\/a>. The sale is the largest hotel deal in L.A. County so far this year.<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: Mesa West Capital Provides $57M Refi for Florida Community<\/a><\/p>\n Burkle had partnered with Andrew Zobler<\/b>\u2019s Sydell Group<\/a><\/b> to acquire the site and redevelop it in the mid-2010s, yet Sydell sold its stake in the hotel to SoHo House<\/b> \u2014 majority owned by Burkle \u2014 in 2021. Yucaipa had secured a $100 million refinancing loan from Corten Real Estate in 2022, CO reported at the time<\/a>, but the owner ultimately defaulted on the debt earlier this year.<\/p>\n Representatives for Corten and Yucaipa did not immediately respond to requests for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hotels in L.A. County have garnered much interest from lenders and investors lately, particularly as the industry prepares for the upcoming 2028<\/b> Olympics<\/b> and some of the soccer matches for the FIFA World Cup<\/b>. Just earlier this week, Mesa West Capital <\/b>provided a $55 million loan<\/a> to Seaview Investors<\/b> to refinance the recently renovated 186-room Burton House Beverly Hills<\/b>. Ashford Hospitality Trust<\/b> in February meanwhile landed $580 million to refinance 16 of its hotels<\/a>, including the Beverly Hills Marriott<\/b>, and Vici Properties<\/b> invested $300 million into Cain International<\/b>\u2019s One Beverly Hills<\/b> mega-resort project that same month.<\/p>\n Not everything is rosy in L.A.\u2019s hotel industry, however. The L.A. City Council<\/b> in May voted to significantly raise the hotel worker minimum wage through 2028, and Mayor Karen Bass<\/b> signed the bill into law later that month, though an association of hotel owners and advocates filed a referendum petition against the law shortly after, delaying the start of its enforcement. If the petition is ultimately successful, the wage hike will go to a citywide referendum vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Yet some hotel owners aren\u2019t willing to take that chance. Sun Hill Properties<\/b>, which owns the 495-key Hilton Universal City<\/b> just outside Universal Studios<\/b>, pulled the plug on a planned 18-story expansion<\/a> expressly because of the wage ordinance, Sun Hill President and CEO Mark Davis<\/b> told CO.\u00a0<\/p>\n