Anbang Insurance Group Co. has filed a plan for the luxury condos it’s developing at Manhattan’s Waldorf Astoria, and it calls for fewer apartments than the company initially aimed for.
The Chinese insurer’s project to convert many of the landmark hotel’s guest rooms now calls for 352 condos, according to details of the offering plan on the New York state attorney general’s website. Last March, a preliminary filing showed 409 condos.
Manhattan’s high-end residential market has softened since Anbang bought the Waldorf for $1.95 billion in 2015. In the fourth quarter, purchases of luxury homes -- defined for the period as those priced at $3.895 million or more -- decreased 13% from a year earlier, according to data from appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
The future of the project, called the Towers at 301 Park Avenue, was cast into doubt last month when the Chinese government seized temporary control of Anbang, saying it would consider “all or partial” sales of the insurer’s assets. Construction at the Waldorf has continued despite the tumult at the company.
The most recent filing, which doesn’t include pricing information for the condos, is in line with a statement from November in which Anbang said the project would have about 350 condos and 350 hotel rooms. The plans were reported late Monday (March 19) by the Real Deal.
Representatives for Anbang and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., which has a long-term contract to manage the Waldorf’s hotel component, declined to comment.
News by Bloomberg, edited by Hospitality Ireland
