D.C.’s Union Station Faces Foreclosure on $330 Million Mortgage

(Bloomberg) -- The operator of Washington, D.C.’s Union Station faces a foreclosure sale in January, according to a filing Wednesday by the trustee of the building’s $330 million mortgage.

The property, operated by New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., stopped making payments in May 2020, after citing the impact of Covid-19 on its ability to pay. The property was valued at $1.24 billion according to a 2017 appraisal. Ben Ashkenazy, chief executive and chairman of the company, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment in a message left with his assistant.

Union Station serves Amtrak, commuter railroads, and the DC metro area’s subway system. It also has retail space, including a Walgreens. 

Retail properties such as malls were struggling even before the pandemic, as shoppers increasingly turned to e-commerce. Their trouble has only increased since then. The delinquency rate for retail property mortgages bundled into bonds was 8.1% in November, compared with 1.9% for apartments and 1.8% for offices, according to Trepp.

Ashkenazy has a lease that expires in 2084. The U.S. government owns the site.

The foreclosure sale is scheduled for Jan. 6, according to information compiled by the mortgage’s trustee. 

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