SAN JOSE — In a sign of ongoing weakness within the Bay Area hotel market, a San Jose hotel has been bought by a local real estate investment group for far less than the property’s prior value.
Sonesta Select San Jose Airport was purchased for $14 million, according to documents filed on Aug. 29 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office.
A San Mateo-based group headed up by Jayesh Keshav, Leena Keshav, Neeraj Keshav, Jai Jalaram, and Krishna Keshav Patel bought the hotel through an affiliate, state business records show.
The new ownership group also landed $11.9 million in financing from Tasi Bank, according to county real estate records.
The purchase comes at a time when the Bay Area hotel market is reeling from an array of problems, including a post-coronavirus hangover, expiring loans that can’t be readily refinanced, and wobbly revenue levels.
The lodging market’s foreclosure and loan delinquency woes have engulfed hotels in Oakland, San Francisco and downtown San Jose, although problems have also surfaced for hotels in Berkeley, Newark, Pleasanton and Pleasant Hill.
Additional hotel problems loom in San Francisco beyond the Huntington Hotel foreclosure.
Two of San Francisco’s biggest hotels, Parc 55 San Francisco Hotel and The Hilton San Francisco, are slated to be bought by investors from New York City through a court-ordered receivership proceeding after the hotels’ owner defaulted on $725 million in financing and walked away from making payments for the distressed properties’ mortgage.
In the recently completed deal for the Sonesta hotel in San Jose, the new ownership group paid 40.9% less than the lodging’s estimated value of $23.7 million, as estimated by the Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office.
Property value outcomes can affect revenue for an array of public agencies.
If real estate values turn soft in a region, the decline could squeeze a crucial revenue stream for cities, counties, regional agencies and school districts.