Content area
Full Text
As a nearby resident, Bernard Goldberg used to walk by the Wales Hotel on Madison Avenue between 92nd and 93rd streets several times a week. In the 1980s, the once stately hotel had aged into a sagging property with low-rent permanent residents in one-third of its 93 rooms.
While others rushed past, Mr. Goldberg often stopped to study the hotel. Despite naysayers who warned that the Wales was too far uptown to flourish, Mr. Goldberg bought the derelict building in 1988 for $7.75 million.
"I saw an opportunity," says Mr. Goldberg, who gained his real estate experience as an attorney specializing in distressed situations. "I thought, 'Where do people stay who want to go to the museums or have family at Mount Sinai Hospital?' There were no hotel rooms under $200 on the Upper East Side."
NO PROBLEM FILLING ROOMS
By carefully restoring the hotel built in 1903 and charging rates between $135 and $195 a night, Mr. Goldberg has had little problem filling rooms. For the first half of the year, the Wales had an occupancy rate of 80%, while the citywide average was below 70%.
Using similar formula, the hotel refurbisher recently revived the 53-room Franklin hotel on East 87th Street and is starting a transformation of the Shoreham Hotel on 55th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues.
However, while Mr. Goldberg has turned one unwanted property into a star, the industry is watching to see if his magic works on a midtown hotel that is geared to business travelers.
"The Shoreham has potential because it is a well-located commercial...