[Baltimore Sun] Pennsylvania bank accuses Baltimore hotel owners of not paying $21M loan

Read Time:2 Minute, 3 Second

A Pennsylvania bank has filed to seize an East Baltimore hotel that was partially built using city funds after its owners failed to pay back a $21 million loan, according to court documents.

The owner of the Residence Inn by Marriott Baltimore at The Johns Hopkins Medical Center missed a July 31 deadline to pay back First National Bank of Pennsylvania, according to a motion filed last month in Baltimore City Circuit Court by Baltimore attorneys Michael Gallerizzo and Richard Dubose, who are acting as substitute trustees on behalf of the bank. First National Bank’s predecessor, First Mariner Bank, lent the hotel owner, LSH GE Gateway 2, the money in January 2017 to finance the hotel, according to court documents.

Gallerizzo and Dubose did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 194-room hotel, which the university does not own, was built as part of an ongoing effort led by nonprofit East Baltimore Development Inc. (EBDI) to redevelop 88 acres near the medical center’s Middle East neighborhood. City officials and Johns Hopkins leaders touted the initiative, which began in 2003, as a way to revitalize the area via a private-public partnership and eventually create 2,100 units of housing for renters and prospective homebuyers at a range of income levels. The effort, which required razing existing housing, displaced 740 families, according to public health expert Marisela Gomez.

EBDI Chief Executive and President Cheryl Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Gallerizzo and Dubose, on behalf of First National Bank, are now asking a Baltimore City Circuit Court judge to foreclose on the property at 800 North Wolfe Street. They want the court to “immediately” appoint JHMD Associates, an affiliate of GF Hotels and Resorts, as the receiver to oversee the hotel complex, according to court records. The complex also includes five businesses, including a cafe, which pay rent to the hotel.

The attorneys allege that as of Aug. 16, LSH GE Gateway 2 had not paid back $18.4 million of the $21 million loan. The firms behind LSH GE Gateway 2 include Baltimore County developer Greenebaum Enterprises and Boston-based Pyramid Global Hospitality.

Neither Michael Greenebaum, president of Greenebaum Enterprises, nor Pyramid Global Hospitality immediately responded to requests for comment. LSH GE Gateway 2’s general manager, former politically-connected city developer Ronald Lipscomb, could not be reached for comment.

The Baltimore Banner first reported Gallerizzo and Dubose’s motion.

Read More 

About Post Author

Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %