FOUND Study Debuts Hotel-to-Student Housing Conversion

Hawkins Way Capital’s subsidiary FOUND Study has opened the first phase of 99 Washington St., a 650-bed hotel-to-student housing conversion in Manhattan. The 50-story building is the world’s tallest student housing accommodation.

The 485-foot-tall high-rise previously served as the tallest Holiday Inn worldwide and comprised 492 rooms. Partners on the project included BDB Construction Enterprise.

The news comes on the heels of Hawkins Way Capital’s arrangement for a $431 million CMBS loan for three northeastern student communities—out of which one is in Manhattan. That note is set to close later this month.

The firm acquired the asset that originally served as a hotel for $154.5 million in July, according to New York Business Journal. The new ownership assumed a $137 million loan through Wilmington Trust. GF Hotels & Resorts sold the asset.

Former hotel reinvented

Before selling it, the previous owners filed for foreclosure in 2022, the same source shows. The following year, a bankruptcy judge approved an agreement with city officials to repurpose the hotel as a migrant shelter. When that contract expired and was not renewed in 2024, the former owner ultimately sold it to Hawkins Way, Bisnow reported.

The company currently works on the community’s shared spaces and amenity package, set to be completed later this year. Plans also call for the transformation of an adjacent chapel building as shared amenity space, expected to open next year.

Amenities will include a communal kitchen and dining areas, laundry rooms and lounges. Additionally, the property will also have shared study zones and a fitness center.

Located at 99 Washington St. within the borough’s Financial District, the transit-oriented property is less than 4 miles from Midtown Manhattan. Also dubbed FOUND Study FiDi, the community is within walking distance of Pace University and less than 8 miles from City University of New York.