The Covid-19 pandemic may have sent The 192-room Sheraton South hotel to the auction block.
The hotel, which remains open, is owned by Pennsylvania-based HHM, formerly Hersha.
An online auction is slated for Oct 26 to Oct 28, with a minimum bid of $5.5 million, less than the cost of a recently completed renovation.
The New Castle-area hotel recently underwent a $6.4 million renovation that was completed in May. The makeover was aimed at building its meeting and banquet business and upgrading rooms.
The meeting and banquet business came to a grinding halt with the Covid-19 pandemic. Hotels have been struggling with sharply reduced travel and virtually no meetings business.
The auction flyer lists the hotels occupany rate at 59 percent.
The hotel has a star-crossed history, with the original developer, members of the Capano family, running afoul of New Castle County, due to the hotel being larger than plans submitted to the land use department.
The county barred the hotel’s opening and the property remained closed for years, despite a highly visible location along I-95.
The hotel was owned for a time by Delaware Park but was later sold to a hotel operator. It was to be branded as a Radisson Hotel, but ended up as a Sheraton, now one of Marriott’s brands.
The sale process has been assigned to JLL, an international commercial real estate company.
