Fraud Friday — Auction.com to Sell Nik Patel Hotel Properties

May 15, 2015

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Fraud Friday

Five Nik Patel hotel properties are being sold by auction.com in July.

Nik was arrested last October on fraud charges involving $180 million of bogus USDA b&i loans — allegedly.

The hotels are:

· The DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando East, a 246-room full-service hotel located near the University of Central Florida at 12125 High Tech Avenue in Orlando, Florida.

· A 290-room full-service hotel located at 400 W. Livingston Street in the heart of downtown Orlando, Florida.

· A 246-room full-service hotel located near the entrance to Lake Buena Vista Resort Village and Downtown Disney at 12490 Apopka Vineland Road in Orlando, Florida.

· A 148-room full-service hotel located at 50 Kenny Place in Saddle Brook, New Jersey near Saddle River County Park and Westfield Garden State Plaza.

· A 272-room full-service hotel located at 500 Hamilton Boulevard in downtown Peoria, Illinois, near Caterpillar’s world headquarters and the Peoria Civic Center.

“We are anxious to put our nationwide network of 15 offices to work on the sale of these five high-profile hotel properties, all of which boast prime locations and are already attracting a great deal of investor interest,” says Scott Stephens, senior principal and COO for HREC Investment Advisors.

“Having partnered on deals with Auction.com in the past, I’ve been impressed by their proven ability to attract a large pool of potential buyers, along with their demonstrated speed of execution and certainty of close. I feel confident in our combined abilities to successfully and efficiently sell the Alena Hospitality Portfolio assets – and many more in the future.”

The selection of Auction.com and HREC Investment Advisors was made by the court-appointed Receiver tasked with conducting an orderly liquidation of the assets of Alena Hospitality and affiliated individuals and businesses.

Auction.com currently has a 97 percent close rate on hospitality properties. Within the first four months of 2015, the company closed 15 hospitality assets across the U.S. for a total of more than $78 million. Six of these properties sold for more than $5 million, with the April 22nd closing of the Baton Rouge Marriott for $21 million marking the largest hospitality transaction on the platform to date in 2015. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of the Auction.com platform for selling a variety of different hotel types – from select-service to large, full-service properties and boutique hotels.

“The growing number of hotel asset sales through Auction.com proves the effectiveness of the platform and signals a growing appetite for these properties,” says Anthony Falor, managing director of Auction.com’s Hospitality Division. “We expect to see business continue to strengthen as 2015 progresses – and are proud to have been selected to sell the former Alena Hospitality properties alongside HREC Investment Advisors a company which shares our commitment to conducting these transactions with the utmost efficiency and transparency.”