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Out of the red, Allegria Hotel owner Allen Rosenberg is focusing on the future

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“This project is breaking the first rule in Real Estate 101: Don’t fall in love with the bricks,” said Allegria Hotel owner Allen Rosenberg, 49, sitting at a table in the hotel’s lounge overlooking the rooftop pool — the only one of its kind on Long Island — as guests and servers roamed about. “[The hotel] became a labor of love.”

Rosenberg’s development company, Alrose King David LLC, which owns the hotel, filed for Chapter 11 protection in July 2011, claiming between $10 million and $50 million in liabilities to more than 50 creditors, but a year later, Rosenberg, dressed in tan linen pants and a light-colored dress shirt, seemed relaxed, and he had good reason to be. On June 18, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Dorothy Eisenberg gave final approval to a reorganization plan allowing Alrose King David to emerge from bankruptcy and pay off or restructure its debts.

“We’re very excited that we were able to navigate through one of the toughest recessions in U.S. history,” Rosenberg said. “It allows me to retain control of the hotel … The judge recognized that I was the right operator and had the right team in place.”

The 143-room, nine-story Allegria, where guest rooms run from $300 to more than $1,000 a night, has had its shares of highs and lows since it opened in 2009. In 2007, Rosenberg, who owns the Manhattan-based Alrose Group, purchased the former King David senior-citizen home property for $21 million to build a boutique-style, oceanfront luxury hotel and spa with an upscale restaurant and other amenities.

“There was a niche to fill … it was just so obvious that this has to be a hit, especially with the Long Island Rail Road four blocks away, and Long Beach being such a colorful, diverse community,” Rosenberg said. “This is definitely the platform for a year-round facility such as the Allegria, which can really offer four- or five-star accommodations and catering.”

For years, a number of developers had proposed hotel projects that never got off the ground. The King David, which closed two years before Rosenberg bought the property, was already zoned for hotel use.

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