Cardinal Timothy Dolan told parishioners this week that the Church would continue to liquidate real estate to plug a widening financial hole in the settlements. Commercial observer. The latest move is a big one: selling the leasehold under the Lotte New York Palace to the luxury hotel operator for $490 million.
Lotte already owns the building, but has been leasing the land for a long time.
About $200 million of the proceeds will go toward the next disbursement under the Church’s Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, launched in 2016. The remaining $290 million will repay loans the archdiocese took out to finance previous IRCP agreements and claims filed under the state’s Child Victims Act.
A spokesperson said the deal is part of a broader global settlement effort reached with the help of a mediator.
For Lotte, the transaction is an opportunity to gain full control of one of Manhattan’s leading hospitality facilities. The Korean conglomerate bought the 55-storey Palace in 2015.
A spokesperson called the land purchase a “critical milestone” for the brand, which still needs approval from the New York State Supreme Court before closing.
The sale is the latest in a two-year sell-off of the Church’s assets in Manhattan.
In July, it transferred its old headquarters at 1011 First Avenue to the Vanbarton Group for $103 million; Vanbarton plans to convert the office tower into housing. A spokesperson for the archdiocese said proceeds from 1011 First Avenue could also be funneled into the global settlement as the Church continues to tap its portfolio to meet its obligations.
Earlier this year, the archdiocese sold three buildings on West 25th Street in Chelsea for $48 million and in 2024 it donated a vacant lot in the East Village for up to $68 million to a team planning 570 homes.
Those deals followed an air rights transaction in late 2023 in which Ken Griffin, Vornado and Rudin agreed to pay as much as $164 million for a 525,000-square-foot site above St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
— Holden Walter Warner
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