It is not a joy to report yet another obvious delay in the reopening of the iconic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. According to our ground sources, the doors will not shake again until September.
Property owners Daija Insurance Group and hotel management company Hilton have promoted the reopening of “spring” over the past few months.
The mystical postponement follows the previous failure to reopen the hotel by 2021, as the owner originally promised. It was not clear whether the temporary suspension work order of the building contributed to the latest stay due to the fatal construction accident in early January.
The delay is not Hilton's fault. This aspires to reopen the Art Deco Park Avenue landmark, which has reopened as the flagship of the ever-growing international Waldorf-Astoria Hotels & Resorts brand. Instead, it is responsible for Chinese owners with little real estate expertise.
Anbang Insurance bought the property for nearly $2 billion in 2014 and closed two years later for restoration and partial condo conversion. The Beijing boss later imprisoned Anban's chief for fraud and corruption, replacing it with Daija.
Douglas Elliman, the exclusive marketing agent for the property's 375 newly created condo apartments, trumpeted this month that sales of the first three units were closed for a total of $7 million.
However, the hotel booking site does not list guest room availability until September 1st. A spokesman said in December: This time the person in charge did not return to us.
Another question mark hangs on a planned first-floor American brassery of Waldorf, named Rex Yard. This will be handled by Gramerce Tavern chef Michael Anthony.
The opening should coincide with the hotel reopening, but we weren't sure if the restaurant would be open in front of the hotel rooms.
67% of Jane Street Capital's 67% have expanded to about a million square feet at 250 Vesey St. in Brookfield, lending much needed rays of optimism to the drooping downtown office market.
The lease, first reported by Bloomberg, ended its suspension on where global trading companies will extend their wings. We previously wrote that Jane Street was exploring next door. 300 Vesey st. For growth.
Until last week's signature, Downtown had significantly stopped the Manhattan winter lease boom. According to CBRE, in January, the Borough was seen operating at 2.61 million square feet, or 59% ahead of the five-year monthly average.
However, all the major deals were in Midtown and Midtown South, rising 18% in January 2024, respectively, with a volume that rose 166% each.
Downtown lease in January was 315,000 square meters, a 3% decrease in the month of 2024, CBRE reported.
You might get tired of real estate checks reporting a huge restaurant lease in front of someone else, such as last week's story of returning to town on 1255 Broadway last week, but we're heading over here again.
Maple Hospitality Group has signed a 12,000-square-foot lease at 1290 Sixth Ave. in Vornado on West 51st Avenue, facing south. MHG owns four different eatery brands, including Chicago's flagship Maple & Ash.
MHG also owns a modern Italian restaurant monarch in Dallas. It was not immediately clear which concept would be 1290 6th.
Vornado is a tower where Trump's organization holds 30% passive stakes and is busy with $45 million on new tenant facilities. (The Maple Restaurant will be fully open to the public.) The Tower's 2 million square feet office is approximately 90% leased. As we reported in May, five Iron Golf recently signed the 13,000-square-foot facility.
We wondered what would replace Charlie Palmer's invalid steakhouse at One Bryant Park, the Durst organization. Celebrating, third-placed Japanese restaurant Momoya has just signed a 5,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor space, the landlord announced.
“The first time I've opened one Bryant Park. [in 2009]Last year, a spectacular restaurant space at the foot of the building became available. We knew the Momoya team's vision would be perfect for our Bryant Park neighborhood,” said Jody Durst, president of the Durst organization. President Momoya Kwango Lee cited the Tower's “architectural distinctions and substantial commercial possibilities of locations.”
Lee runs three front posts: Chelsea, Soho and Momoya locations on the Upper West Side, as well as high-end Kaiseki Spot Capposono in Union Square and casual sushi concept Happy Tuna.
It was still unclear what the new restaurant would look like when it opens later this year. The space will be completely redesigned, Durst said.
Bryant Park's 2.35 million square feet are fully leased. Christopher Owls of Sinbin Real Estate represented the Momoya Group. Durst was represented in-house by Tom Bow, Rocco Romeo and Nora Caliban.
