Ritz-Carlton used as collateral to secure $280m loan

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel at 50 Central Park South in New York City has been used as collateral to secure a $280m loan. The borrower, Westbrook Partners, will use the funding to replace a $135m loan taken from Delaware Life in 2015 with the additional money being use for property upgrades. Delaware Life Insurance Company, Korean lender Nonghyup Bank and others provided the financing. Until 1999, the hotel was operated as the Hotel St. Moritz, before undergoing a renovation and reopening in 2002 as the Ritz-Carlton, which operated the first 12 floors of the building. Westbrook acquired a controlling stake for $105m in 2012 from Millennium Partners, which retained an interest in the 259-room building.