November 28, 2005

Plaza to reopen in 2007 with new 'condo-hotel' rooms

When The Plaza reopens in early 2007 after its $350 million renovation, part of the historic hotel will be condos, part will be hotel rooms, and part will be something in between.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. last week announced it will manage 282 rooms of The Plaza for Elad Properties, the company that purchased the landmark hotel shortly before shuttering it in April 2005. Of those 282 rooms, 130 will be regular hotel rooms and 152 will be "condo hotel" rooms, in which the owner gets to use the room up to four months every year, with Fairmont using the room as a hotel room the other eight months, Fairmont spokesman Mike Taylor today told NewYorkology.

It is unclear if any of those rooms will include views of Central Park, he said.

The condo-hotel project is new for Fairmont, though it runs something similar in Acapulco, Telluride, Colo., and a project just announced for San Francisco. But those operate more like a time-share with 10 owners for each room, rather than one. (For a full explanation of the condo-hotel concept, see Hotel-Online.)

In addition to the hotel and condo-hotel rooms, Elad will also sell an undetermined number of residential condo units, which will not be maintained by Fairmont.

Taylor also confirmed that the opening date for The Plaza hotel has been pushed back to "early 2007" from "late 2006."

In October, it was reported that the Saudi prince who sold The Plaza to Elad for $675 million planned to buy back the hotel portion of the property for $500 million. Taylor said he wasn't in a position to comment on the prince's participation, but said the Fairmont deal was signed directly with Elad, not the prince.

Earlier: The Plaza update: pigeon poop edition
Saudi prince to buy back The Plaza's 150 hotel rooms
Progress at The Plaza; luxury retailers queue up
The Plaza's Oak Bar and Palm Court get landmarked
The Plaza closes for 18-month renovation
Plaza's owner agrees to save more hotel rooms - AP

November 28, 2005 12:54 PM in Architecture, Hotelology, Midtown

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