Margaritaville Resort Times Square Hotel, Manhattan’s branch of the Jimmy Buffett-themed hospitality empire, filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday night, according to online court records.... [+]The filing came as a last-ditch effort to avoid a foreclosure auction that had been scheduled for Monday after the owner of the hotel, the New York real estate firm Soho Properties, failed to pay its debt after losing money on the hotel since its opening.
The company had filed a lawsuit in late June to try and stop the auction from going forward, but failed to convince a judge to block it; the company wrote in the filing documents that preventing the auction was the “immediate purpose” of this bankruptcy filing. The goal of the bankruptcy is to refinance the hotel’s $167 million mortgage and re-negotiate with its mezzanine lenders.
While the hotel sports signature Buffett-themed decor, it is not actually owned by the billionaire singer-songwriter, who owns the intellectual property behind a suite of ventures run by other companies, including resorts, retirement communities, and consumer goods, according to$309 million. That’s how much debt the owner of the hotel is hoping to refinance in this bankruptcy.