The Waldorf Astoria Hotel will go partly condo, like the Plaza, Trump Soho, and many posh New York City hotels before it, TRD reports. The move comes just a few months after Chinese investment firm Anbang Insurance Group Co. dished out $1.95 billion for the Park Avenue hotel to former owners Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. Anbang's chairman Wu Xiaohui announced the condo conversion of unspecified rooms in Waldorf Towers during a recent talk, "We plan to renovate the two towers into luxury residential apartments with world-class amenities and finishes to reflect its culture and social status." Whether the renovation will also include the conversion of the towers' 26 presidential-style suites is unclear, but it sounds like people vying for condos in the exclusive hotel will very nearly need to be dignitaries if they want to be granted keys. Xiaohui followed up his announcement of the conversion with a note that "a potential buyer needs to have more than money to qualify for our apartments."
The partial conversion will take place on the hotel's top floors, in its Waldorf Towers rooms. Waldorf Towers is a 181-room hotel atop the Waldorf Astoria, which is served by a separate entrance on East 50th Street. Rooms in the towers range in size from 600-square-foot one-bedrooms to 1,800-plus-square-foot suites. Curbed has reached out for clarification on which rooms will be converted.
· Waldorf Astoria's new owner to add condos [TRD]
· Waldorf Towers [official]
· All Waldorf Astoria coverage [Curbed]
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