Aspiring hospitality baron Jon Adgemis is grasping for a circuit breaker. Public Hospitality Group, his roll-up of off-Broadway pubs and down-at-heel hostels, is groaning under the weight of more than $500 million of short-term debt at usurious interest rates.

Half a billion bucks at around 18 per cent per annum is a mind-blowing liability, let alone when you consider that Adgemis only paid $280 million for the 20 properties in Public’s portfolio (16 of which were purchased between 2020 and 2022). The group has also spent or committed $125 million on capital improvements.