It's 79° & sunny for the #FirstDayofSummer. pic.twitter.com/CrMNf0oATZ
— Waldorf Astoria NY (@WaldorfNYC) June 20, 2016
Big hotel news out of New York. The Wall Street Journal headline says it all: “Classic Waldorf Hotel to Be Gutted, Up to 1,100 Rooms Turned Into Condos.” Anbang Insurance Group Co., the Beijing-based company, acquired the Art Deco landmark for $1.95 billion last year-- what Bloomberg describes as “a record price for a U.S. hotel.”
Now located at 301 Park Avenue, the Waldorf Astoria New York was first opened in 1893. (The five-star hotel has existed in its current location since 1931, and has a storied history hosting illustrious guests.)
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, the 1,413-room hotel will be closed in spring 2017 for a massive overhaul. The construction project will take up to three years, as many of the rooms will be converted to luxury condominiums and apartments. The owner’s plans are still being finalized, but an insider says as many as three-quarters of the rooms will be lost. The luxury hotel is currently managed by Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.