The
Iron Horse Hotel, an independently-owned motorcycle-themed hotel in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, was foreclosed on by its lender Monday, following years of financial distress and legal maneuvering.
Located at 500 W. Florida St., the 102-room hotel has been entangled in court proceedings since 2021, when its lender—identified in court documents as
RSS—filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the Iron Horse ownership group,
Rider Hotel LLC, led by developer
Tim Dixon.
In 2022, Dixon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing longstanding financial troubles and the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the hotel industry. That move temporarily paused the foreclosure proceedings and allowed time to pursue multiple approaches to end the bankruptcy and foreclosure.
In September 2023,
the hotel was sent to auction to pay off Dixon’s Rider Hotel LLC ownership company’s mortgage, but no bids were worth more than the $24 million that it owed at the time. In November 2023,
hotel ownership and RSS came to an agreement for Rider Hotel to bring the loan back to good standing and keep ownership of the hotel.
Then, in October 2024 the bankruptcy case was closed after Dixon came to a new agreement with the lender. At the time, Dixon had a plan to refinance its loan by the time it matured in February, court documents show.
But court documents filed this month show that the loan was not refinanced upon its maturity, authorizing RSS, which is serviced by Miami-based
Rialto Capital, to foreclose on the property.
A Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge authorized the foreclosure judgement on Monday.
Throughout the proceedings, The Iron Horse Hotel has remained open under its original management. This month, Virginia-based
Crescent Hotels and Resorts was appointed by the court at the hotel's receiver.
The hotel is set to be sold at a sheriff's auction that has not yet been scheduled, according to court records.
Dixon did not respond to request for comment.
The Iron Horse Hotel opened in 2008 in a former warehouse building. The 6-story building was built in 1907.
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