The Chinese owners of New York City’s Waldorf Astoria are putting the iconic hotel up for sale months after it reopened following a multibillion-dollar renovation.
The Wall Street Journal reports the property’s eight-year, $4 billion overhaul was five years behind schedule and more than $1 billion over budget. The original 1,400-room hotel reopened in November with 375 hotel rooms and 372 residences.
Hilton Worldwide (NYSE:HLT), which has a 100-year management contract for the hotel, sold the property in 2014 to China’s Anbang Insurance Group for $1.95 billion. The Chinese state-run Dajia Insurance Group was later appointed to manage Anbang’s assets after its CEO, Wu Xiaohui, was prosecuted for economic crimes.
The sale price was not cited by the Journal, which said the seller did not expect to recover all its costs with the sale.
Photo courtesy of Waldorf Astoria New York
