Buyer emerges for East Bay hotel that faces foreclosure and bankruptcy

BERKELEY — A buyer has emerged for an East Bay hotel whose owner filed for bankruptcy just ahead of a foreclosure effort that the property’s lender launched in an attempt to seize ownership of the lodging site.

University Inn & Suites, a 113-room hotel at 920 University Ave. in Berkeley, defaulted on a $10.5 million loan that the hotel obtained in 2019. The loan default was filed on Feb. 11.

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Kubera Hotel Properties, the principal owner of University Inn, has won a judge’s approval to sell the hotel to Goldfin Ventures, according to documents on file with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The hotel would be sold for $17 million to Goldfiln Ventures, an LLC whose principal managers include Vinu Krishnamurthy, according to a bankruptcy judge’s order issued on Aug. 26. Krishnamurthy states on his LinkedIn that he has 25 years of experience in the tech industry, including holding multiple executive roles at San Jose-based Adobe.

Goldfin Ventures is listed as a Saratoga-based entity whose businesses include technology and real estate services, state business records show.

The hotel’s purchase could be completed over the next three to four months, bankruptcy court papers show.

The coronavirus hurt the hotel, according to a declaration that Pradeep Khatri, the hotel’s principal owner, filed with the bankruptcy court in August.

“Like many businesses, COVID was devastating,” Khatri stated in his filing. “The hotel struggled through the COVID pandemic and was not operating profitably.”

In September 2024, the hotel defaulted on its mortgage payments to Wilmington Trust, the current holder of the mortgage for the hotel.

“The debtor has been attempting to sell the hotel for a number of months and received favorable offers, but no sales closed,” Khatri declared in the court records. “The debtor has also sought to refinance its existing secured debt without success.”

Multiple reports have emerged that suggest owners of commercial real estate have encountered uneven success in refinancing their existing loans because the currently high interest rates are unfavorable for new financing.

Both hotel purchases and hotel development projects have faltered in the Bay Area and California as the lodging market statewide attempts to recover from the coronavirus outbreak and its devastation of the global travel and hospitality industries.

“The buyer in this case is a cash buyer seeking to continue to operate the property as a hotel,” Khatri stated in the court records. “The debtor seeks to close the sale as quickly as possible, which is favorable given the debtor will receive proceeds exceeding the total scheduled claims.”

The hotel purchase terms would work out to roughly $150,400 a room. By comparison, the foreclosure of the Signia by Hilton hotel in downtown San Jose valued that lodging tower at $147,900 a room. The foreclosure of the Oakland Marriott City Center hotel in downtown Oakland valued that East Bay highrise at $140,400 a room.

“I own multiple pieces of real estate, including another hotel, and I believe the sale price of the property is the highest obtainable under the current market conditions and circumstances,” Khatri stated in the court papers. “The price is fair and reasonable.”