Now unbranded Lafayette Yard Hotel and Conference Center in Trenton

The words "Marriott Lafayette Yard" have been covered on a sign and been replaced with a banner, in front of the Lafayette Yard Hotel and Conference Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Michael Mancuso/The Times

To purchase prints of this photo, visit TimesofTrenton.zenfolio.com

(file photo)

TRENTON — The Lafayette Yard Hotel and Conference Center could be sold off to the highest bidder as soon as next month, an attorney told the hotel board today.

Robert Rattet, the bankruptcy attorney for the city-backed hotel, said he is hoping the judge overseeing its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings will approve a Nov. 25 auction date.

“The goal is to get this sold and closed to the highest and best use,” Rattet said at the meeting this afternoon.

Rattet, who was hired last month by the Lafayette Yard Community Development Corp., the nonprofit board that oversees hotel operations, said he should know more after a hearing next Tuesday.

The LYCDC voted to enter into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August to facilitate the sale of the former Trenton Marriott. The hotel was built with city-backed debt and opened in 2002, but has struggled to turn a profit.

Rattet said a few interested buyers have already done walkthroughs of the building and two are ready to submit a bid and put up deposits of $500,000 each on Friday.

“They are anxiously looking for a contract,” Rattet said.

He would not say who the interested parties are, but said both are experienced in the hotel business. Rattet said his office will complete a sample contract of sale today.

The board is seeking to interest more bidders, and has authorized a $50,000 contract with FTI Consulting, a financial management company, to hire a marketing firm to organize an advertizing blitz aimed at attracting potential buyers.

Alan Tantleff, the senior managing director at FTI, suggested directing the marketing firm to go forward with the lowest-cost campaign. The $40,000 campaign will fund advertisements in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, as well as public relations pushes to get news stories published in the local media and trade journals.

Tantleff asked the board to authorize an additional $10,000 in case the company feels it is not getting the desired response and needs to adjust the campaign.

The board unanimously approved the proposal.

Board attorney Gregory Johnson said he has approached city Business Administrator Sam Hutchinson to ask if Trenton would fund an appraisal of the property, so city officials can learn the hotel's true value. He said it is important for the LYCDC to be a good partner with the city because the debt that is not paid off by the sale of the hotel will be incurred by the city.

“We want to be sure that the city has had the opportunity to see what the value is before the sale,” Johnson said.

Rattet also said today that the federal bankruptcy trustee overseeing the hotel’s proceedings asked that all board members identify relationships they have with any of the hotel's creditors.

“Their concern is conflict issues,” Rattet said.

Chairwoman Joyce Kersey sits on the board of the Trenton Parking Authority, which invested in the initial construction of the hotel and has an ongoing lease agreement with the LYCDC for the use of a parking facility attached to the building.

Board member Richard Sims, who was appointed this summer, is the treasurer for the Capital City Redevelopment Corp. The LYCDC owes the CCRC, a state agency, $697,436 in long-term debt.

Sims refused to comment on the potential conflict.

Kersey said that since the bankruptcy filing, she has recused herself from discussions of the hotel at Parking Authority meetings. She said she did not remember the TPA board having any discussions about the hotel prior to the bankruptcy.

“It was not a conflict before now,” Kersey said. “Since the bankruptcy, I leave the room, I go home.”

Rattet said right now the court is only asking that the board members sign a document stating any potential conflicts, but they could eventually be asked to resign from a board.

Kersey declined to discuss whether she would resign from either board.

2 trchristie HINDASH.JPG

CONNECT WITH US: On mobile or desktop:

• Like Times of Trenton on Facebook

• Follow @TimesofTrenton on Twitter