By JAMES FINK
jfink@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1611

Holiday Inn on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst is officially in the hands of a mortgage-servicing agency and likely will be put up for sale.

According to documents filed in the Erie County Clerk's office, 1881 Niagara Falls Boulevard Holdings LLC, an affiliate of the Maryland-based CW Capital Asset Management, acquired the 199-room hotel from WPH Amherst Associates, an affiliate of Cheektowaga's Hart Hotels Inc.

On paper, 1881 Niagara Falls Boulevard Holdings paid $10.5 million for the hotel but, in reality, Hart Hotels voluntarily offered the deed to the service in lieu of foreclosure proceedings. The deal gives CW Capital title to the property and clears the path for a likely sale, although no date has been set.

The deed filing officially shifts ownership from Hart Hotels to the CW Capital affiliate. It is being operated and managed by Marshall Hotel and Resorts, with Lancaster attorney Kenneth Graber overseeing the legal action in his role as court-appointed trustee.

The hotel will remain open. It has been the subject of legal proceedings between Hart Hotels and CW Capital for more than one year.

At issue was $8 million that Hart Hotels wanted to refinance; the request was denied.

The $10.5 million price tag on the deed represents the mortgage amount plus penalties and accrued interest.

The deal affects only the Niagara Falls Boulevard hotel, not any of Hart's other holdings. Hart Hotels has a deep portfolio, including a resort and conference center in Watkins Glen, two other Amherst hotels and property in Park City, Utah.

The hotel was constructed in 1967 as a 122-room Holiday Inn and in 1970 was expanded by 80 rooms. After a series of renovations, it was adjusted to a 199-room hotel and conference center.