The City of Long Beach has terminated the services of Ed Pribonic, a long-time consultant to the Queen Mary - a controversy-mired property of Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT).

The termination came in the wake of scathing reports by the consultant, who had described the Queen Mary as “never been in worse condition” and that it soon could be “unsalvageable.”

The report in October 2019 indirectly contributed to a sharp plunge in EHT’s unit price, which fell from USD0.66 to USD0.46 over two weeks during the month.

Pribonic was terminated on Christmas eve, according to a report from the city’s newspaper, the Long Beach Post.

The Queen Mary is an upscale hotel property that has been converted over from an ocean liner.

The property was last valued independently at about USD160 million, and sits on land tenure of 66 years from 2016.

The property is leased by the City of Long Beach to Urban Commons, the sponsor of EHT.

The City of Long Beach once described the restoration of the Queen Mary as a “top priority” and a landmark that is extremely important to its community.

The city established the Queen Mary Land Development Task Force in 2016, to ensure that the property retains its position as the city’s icon.

REITsWeek is reaching out to the city to understand the reasons behind the consultant's termination.

EHT was last done on the Singapore Exchange at USD0.545.