Wardman Hotel Owner LLC, an affiliate of Pacific Life Insurance Co., has filed for chapter 11 protection and has ended its management contract with Marriott International, WTOP.com reported. The 1,152-room Wardman Park, one of the largest hotels in D.C., opened in 1918, during the Spanish Flu pandemic. Pacific Life permanently closed the hotel just before filing for bankruptcy protection, and is seeking to sell the property, which could clear the way for the property’s redevelopment. The chapter 11 petition was filed Jan. 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Marriott and Pacific Life have been locked in legal disputes since shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic led to the hotel’s temporary closure in March 2020. In September, Marriott filed suit in Montgomery County Circuit Court, seeking millions of dollars of working capital from Pacific Life to keep the hotel in operating condition after several requests for support, citing contractual obligations, funds Pacific Life contends it did not have.
