The ownership interest in the Graduate by Hilton Providence — the downtown tower generations of Rhode Islanders still call the Biltmore — is headed to a public auction in New York early next year, after a legal notice disclosed more than $36 million in unpaid mortgage debt tied to the property. The notice lists an unpaid principal balance of $36,348,298 as of September 1, 2026, against a first-priority mortgage loan that originally totaled $43,192,500.
According to GoLocalProv, which first reported the filing, the auction is scheduled for January 20, 2027, to be held at the New York County Courthouse in front of the New York Supreme Court. The notice identifies Acore Capital Mortgage, LP, a Delaware limited partnership, as the administrative agent for lenders under the mezzanine loan agreements connected to the debt. It also names Biltmore Providence Lessee LLC as the entity holding the leasehold interest in the Dorrance Street property.
A Downtown Landmark With a Complicated Ownership History
The hotel sits at 11 Dorrance Street in downtown Providence, where it has anchored the city’s skyline since opening in 1922. GoLocalProv’s report notes the property is best known to Rhode Islanders simply as the Biltmore, a name that persists locally even though the building has operated under the Graduate banner since 2019.
AJ Capital Partners acquired the hotel in 2017, according to contemporaneous reporting and deed records cited by the Providence Journal. In October 2017, Commercial Observer reported that ACORE Capital had lent AJ Capital Partners $44.3 million to acquire and refurbish the historic Biltmore, and the Providence Journal reported at the time that deed records showed the hotel sold for $43,552,500.
How the Graduate Brand Changed Hands
The Providence property’s current structure traces back to a 2024 deal that separated the Graduate brand from the real estate underneath it. Hilton announced an agreement with AJ Capital in March 2024 to acquire the Graduate Hotels brand worldwide for $210 million, according to CoStar, while AJ Capital retained ownership of the underlying real estate, including the Providence hotel. Under that arrangement, Hilton took over franchise agreements and future development of the brand, while AJ Capital remained the owner of more than 35 operating and pipeline Graduate properties…