The Roosevelt Hotel, which is owned by Pakistan International Airlines, has been made available for rent by the New York City government for a three-year period and this offer has been accepted by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
When the Ministry of Aviation presented a summary of the difficulties and reopening of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presided over the ECC meeting and announced that “PIA Investment Limited (PIA-IL) management has got an opportunity offered by New York City Government to utilize the Roosevelt Hotel (1,025 rooms) over a period of three years for migrant business at US$ 200 per room per day.”
Following discussion, the ECC approved the ministry’s recommendations and the creation of a four-person negotiating committee headed by the Secretary of the Aviation Division to deal with the New York City Council and the Hotel Union.
The ECC additionally permitted PIA-IL/ RHC to use $1.135 million from the available balance as bridging funding to start the hotel’s reopening activities.
Also read: Pakistan expected to sell Roosevelt Hotel shares to Qatar
The Roosevelt Hotel is at 45 East 45th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It occupies an entire city block bounded by Madison Avenue to the west, 46th Street to the north, Vanderbilt Avenue to the east, and 45th Street to the south.
The land lot covers about 43,313 sq ft with a frontage of 200.83 ft on either avenue and 215.67 ft on either street. Nearby buildings include 383 Madison Avenue to the north, 245 Park Avenue to the northeast, the Helmsley Building to the east, the MetLife Building and Grand Central Terminal to the southeast, and the Yale Club of New York City Building to the southeast.
The hotel was built above Grand Central Terminal’s railroad tracks. It was one of several structures built above the railroad tracks during the early 20th century. Other such structures included the Hotel Marguery to the north, the New York Central Building (now Helmsley Building) to the east, and the Yale Club and Biltmore Hotel to the south.
