Grand Hotel Gets 90-Day Extension on Foreclosure

A federal bankruptcy judge gave the Grand Hotel a 90-day reprieve Thursday, one day before Walt Disney Co. was scheduled to foreclose on the 242-room Anaheim facility.

The Burbank-based entertainment company, which holds the mortgage on the 10-story building and its 11-acre parcel near Disneyland, had told the hotel owners two weeks ago to remove all personal property by midnight tonight. The 30-year-old hotel, owned by Grand Hotel and Associates, a Santa Monica partnership, is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

“There were lots of tears and yells in the lobby when employees heard the news,” said Jim Jones, general manager of the Grand Hotel, which has 160 staff members.

Judge Alan Ahart in Los Angeles granted the additional time after the partnership said it was close to working out an agreement with an Orange County buyer, Hasina LLC, according to Daren Brinkman, Grand Hotel’s attorney.

Hasina officials presented the court with two cashier’s checks worth more than $1 million made out to an escrow account of Chicago Title Insurance Co. to demonstrate their commitment to completing the deal, he said.

Three weeks ago, the judge gave Disney the green light to foreclose on the property today, ruling that the partnership had failed to show it was close to a deal to sell the hotel on Freedman Way, near Harbor Boulevard.

“The challenge now will be to regain our displaced business,” said Jones, who added that the facility had 60 rooms booked Thursday night. “We have already started to contact tour groups, travel agents and our regular customers.”

Disney officials declined to comment on Thursday’s ruling. Disney had an option to buy the hotel in 1992 but did not exercise it.