The Line DC Hotel Heads to Auction After Foreclosure

The Line DC, once celebrated as one of DC’s trendiest hotels, will be auctioned off publicly on Jan. 23 in New York City.

Private Showing

The hotel, located at 1770 Euclid Street NW in Adams Morgan, fell into financial trouble in 2019 after its developers refinanced an $80M Deutsche Bank loan with an $86M loan from Acore Capital, as reported by The Real Deal.

Developed by a team including Sydell Group, Foxhall Partners, and Friedman Capital, the hotel was a redevelopment of the former First Church of Christ, Scientist. 

Despite its architectural appeal and accolades—Forbes dubbed it DC’s “hippest” hotel in 2021—the property struggled to meet financial expectations.

Ambition Meets Reality

Matt Wexler, a former managing partner at Foxhall, described the project as a “textbook example of grand ambition coupled with over-improvement” and blamed the hotel’s failure on a flawed partnership structure that prioritized branding over financial sustainability.

Though it featured restaurants from James Beard Award-winning chef Spike Gjerde and gained national attention, The Line DC became better known as a dining destination than a successful lodging property.

Broader Challenges

The auction is part of a larger trend of financial instability in Washington, DC’s hospitality sector. CGI Merchant Group recently lost leasing rights to the Waldorf Astoria Washington DC after a foreclosure, highlighting the vulnerability of even high-profile properties.

What’s Next?

As The Line DC heads to the auction block, it serves as a cautionary tale for the hospitality industry, emphasizing the need for a careful balance between branding ambition and financial pragmatism. 

Investors and operators in DC and beyond will likely scrutinize such partnerships more closely to avoid similar pitfalls.