Glitz, opulence, elegance – such words have been used to describe the Art Deco-inspired redesign of the historic Park Lane Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
For the magazine Hotel Designs, the refurbishment – a two-year project carried out by studio Yabu Pushelberg and completed in 2021 – embraced the “eccentric legacy” of the iconic hotel.
That is an apt description for a property that not so long ago teetered on the edge of demolition, was once embroiled in an international embezzlement scandal, and whose previous owner Leona Helmsley bequeathed her entire remaining fortune to a dog.
Located on ‘Billionaire’s Row’ at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, and designed by famed New York architects Emery Roth & Sons, the 47-story hotel has 610 rooms, nearly half of which command views of Central Park. It also boasts Central Park South’s only rooftop lounge, 11,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space, and three food and beverage outlets.
The Park Lane Hotel has changed hands relatively few times for a 52-year-old property with such a storied past, meaning New Yorkers will be watching new owner the Qatar Investment Authority with interest.
The Qatari sovereign wealth fund acquired the property for around $623 million in August from fellow Middle Eastern sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company and the Witkoff Group. The deal involved $400 million of debt sourced from New York-based private equity firm Apollo Global Management through its Athene Annuity and Life Company.
Scandal strikes
The sale price is below the $654 million paid by developer Steve Witkoff’s company and Malaysian businessman Jho Low in 2013. They intended to demolish the hotel and rebuild it as a skyscraper of condominiums. The price is also well short of the $1 billion Witkoff hoped to recoup from an unsuccessful sale attempt in 2017.
That year, the US Department of Justice alleged that the fugitive Low – on the run for his purported role in the embezzlement scandal involving 1MDB, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund – had bought the property with 1MDB funds and forced a sale. The $1 billion asking price proved too high, however, and Low’s stake was seized after a forfeiture lawsuit was filed in 2018. Around $140 million was transferred to the US government by Mubadala to pay for the stake.
Shortly after Mubadala increased its stake in the property, the asset was refinanced with a $615 million loan from Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan. A portion of the proceeds was directed toward a major refurbishment.
Fresh from this glamorous redesign and now in the hands of new owners, the Park Lane Hotel is embarking on a new chapter in its colorful history.
If the walls of the hotel could talk, they would hope that visitors to New York are excited to be a part of it.
Timeline
1967
Billionaire Harry Helmsley begins construction of Park Lane Hotel1971
Hotel opens for business2013
The Witkoff Group and a trust owned by Jho Low buy the property for $654m; later that year, Mubadala Investment Company acquires 45% of Jho Low’s 85% stake2017
Hotel is forced into a sale by the US Department of Justice, but Witkoff’s $1bn asking price is not met2019
Witkoff and Mubadala refinance the asset with $615m loan from Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan2023
Qatar Investment Authority buys the property for $623m
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