Jay-Z Officially Backs Out of NYC Hotel Venture

Back in 2007, Jay-Z ventured into hotel ownership by partnering with a few businessmen to launch the J Hotel in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City. But almost exactly three years later to the date, Jigga Man has officially backed out of the deal.

According to reports, the business mogul has turned his site back over to lenders for the mortgage price of $52 million, backing out of plans to set up shop at Tenth Avenue and West 21 Street. Jay, whose real name is Shawn Carter, originally partnered with Abram Shnay, his son Scott and Charles Blaichman, who helped build the Urban Glass House in TriBeCa. The original cost to purchase the land and air rights was around $66 million, with the intention to construct the building to be 12 stories and have an art gallery. The partners started encountering trouble as far back as 2008, after plans to architect the hotel were shelved because Blaichman couldn't find a loan to fund the venture.

In February 2010, Highland Capital Management put the property into foreclosure, resulting in an agreement to settle on a deed instead of foreclosure. But after HCM balked on the deal, Jay filed a $3.7 million suit against the company, claiming it cost him millions in carrying costs.

Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys, 'Empire State of Mind' %VIRTUAL-globalVideoEmbed-{"videoIds":"517556577","width":"476","height":"357"}%