UNITE HERE Report Alerts Potential Lenders to Columbia Sussex About Company’s Rocky Road With Asset Maintenance

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--UNITE HERE released an updated analysis today of Columbia Sussex Corporation (CSC) for lenders and CMBS bondholders, following previous accounts of CSC’s history with foreclosures and asset maintenance. The report also provides a snapshot of property conditions at the Hilton Anchorage, whose loan matures in March 2027 and is cross-collateralized with the Renaissance Concourse Atlanta Airport, with a more in-depth report on the Hilton Anchorage to follow.

Highlights from the report:

• Between 2009 and March 2025, CSC or its affiliates experienced 16 foreclosures, eight deeds-in-lieu, and four discounted payoffs, including eight COVID-impacted properties that were the subject of foreclosure or deeds-in-lieu.
• Elsewhere, court-appointed receivers noted leaks and boiler issues at the foreclosed Marriott Saddle Brook, and noted 37 rooms affected by a sewage backup at the foreclosed Hilton Woodcliff Lake.
• The Hilton Anchorage received an “Unacceptable” rating of 63.39% in a Hilton Quality Assurance Report due to guest satisfaction scores and guest room cleanliness in 2016.
• Between 2014-2018, the Hilton Anchorage experienced water intrusion and water damage. In 2017, a CSC attorney wrote that Hilton had chosen not to implement the Moisture Management Plan developed in conjunction with the Hotel’s financing efforts. Following renovations in 2024 and 2025, the Hilton experienced water intrusion again in 2026, including a “Hotel-wide snow melt intrusion.”

The report reviews other aspects of CSC’s history: the company or its affiliates experienced a maturity default of a 14-property Wyndham-branded portfolio in 2010, had a New Jersey gaming license denied in 2008 in part related to alleged cleanliness issues at the Tropicana Atlantic City, and paid $165M in 2008 to settle a dispute with a landlord around the company’s alleged failure to maintain the Tahoe Horizon Hotel and Casino in “first class condition.”

Read the report here: https://unitehere.org/wp-content/uploads/Update-to-CSC-Lenders-6.5.26.pdf.

UNITE HERE is a labor union that represents 300,000 working people across Canada and the United States. Our members work in the hotel, gaming, food service, manufacturing, textile, distribution, laundry, transportation, and airport industries. UNITE HERE Local 878 represents workers at the Hilton Anchorage where there is currently an active labor dispute.