Qatar Wealth Fund Acquires New York’s Iconic Park Lane Hotel

The Park Lane Hotel, with an address of 36 Central Park South, was constructed in 1972 and has 610 rooms. It is a 47-story building.

In a multi-million dollar deal, the Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan has been acquired by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.

The opulent Park Lane Hotel, which is ideally situated just off Central Park, is estimated to have cost the Qatar Investment Authority close to $623 million.

In 2017, the infamous 1Malaysia Development Berhad scam involved the Park Lane hotel. Prior to his conviction on corruption and money laundering charges, fraudster Jho Low, who was found guilty of stealing money from the Malaysian state fund, had planned to work with the former owner Witkoff Group to buy this hotel.

The land was initially going to be seized by the US government, but an arrangement with the other owners made it possible for a sale.

The property had received few bids since it was priced at $1 billion in 2017. Only Mubadala Investment Co. of Abu Dhabi has acquired a $140 million interest in the hotel.

For the better part of six years, the building’s status had been largely in limbo.

 

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According to PincusCo, which broke the news of the purchase first, the Park Lane Hotel, located at 36 Central Park South, was built in 1972, is 47 floors tall, and has 610 rooms spread across 442,000 square feet.

Qatar is no new to New York real estate, despite the fact that it has been a while since the Gulf state made a significant impression in the market.

For $310 million, the QIA purchased the St. Regis New York Hotel on East 55th Street from Marriott in 2019. A fund affiliate also paid $622 million for a 9.9% share in the Empire State Building.

The QIA was recognised as New York’s ninth-largest commercial property owner in 2017 by CoStar.