Waldorf Astoria to go mostly condo: reports

You'll still be able to get a room at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York for a few years, but they're going to be harder to come by.

The Anbang Insurance Group of China, which purchased the storied Manhattan hotel in October 2014 for $1.95 billion, plans to temporarily close it in 2017 and convert 75 percent of the property into condominiums, according to various reports, which have grown in intensity the past couple of weeks.

"We have not finalized any plans in terms of the scope, nature and details of the renovation project or the exact timing and duration of the hotel's closure," a spokesman for Anbang e-mailed China Daily on Monday evening. "We are currently developing conceptual plans and will share additional details once those plans are finalized."

But the spokesman did say that the plans were essentially outlined in a speech by Anbang CEO Wu Xiaohui at Harvard University on Jan 31, 2015.

"We plan to renovate the two towers into luxury residential apartments with world-class amenities and finishes to reflect its culture and social status," Wu said. "At the same time, we will build the hotel section into a super five-star hotel, delivering unparalleled customer experience inspired by Anbang's customer-orientation culture."

The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Anbang's restoration plan would eliminate hundreds of hotel jobs, citing people familiar with the matter.

When the Waldorf reopens, the current hotel, which was built in 1931, will have between 300 and 500 luxury guest rooms, the sources said. The remaining units will be sold as condos.

The renovated structure is expected to reopen in 2020, according to the reports.

TheRealDeal.com reported similar developments on June 14.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc will continue to manage the property and has reached severance agreements with hundreds of the workers at a cost of $100 million or more, wsj.com reported, adding that the gut-level renovation will cost more than $1 billion.

The Real Deal reported that in early 2015, Anbang submitted a filing to the New York City Department of Finance to subdivide the building into different sections for condos, a hotel and retail. Anbang set aside 1.2 million square feet - about three quarters of the building-for residential use, according to the document.

The Waldorf now has two sections: a 1,232-room hotel and a 181-room boutique hotel known as the Towers, which also has some one- and two-bedroom rentals.

The City Council adopted an ordinance last year excluding hotels with more than 150 units from converting more than 20 percent of the property into residences for two years, absent a public review process. The regulation, however, exempted recent transactions, of which the Waldorf was one, according to The Real Deal.

The 85-year-old hotel on Park Avenue is famous for its Presidential Suite, but current US President Barack Obama, who had previously stayed at the Waldorf, did not book the suite last fall during the United Nations General Assembly, opting for another New York hotel. The switch prompted speculation that it had something to do with security concerns over the Chinese ownership.

The Art Deco hotel has provide accommodations over the years for guests such as Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, John Wayne, Elizabeth Taylor and Cole Porter and was the longtime home of Depression-era US president Herbert Hoover.

Another dowager of the New York hotel landscape and a Waldorf peer — The Plaza Hotel — also is a hotel/condo hybrid, with about 280 rooms and 150 private residences overlooking Central Park.