Converting Hotel Rooms to Condos? Not So Fast…
A bill before the City Council would prevent hotel owners from converting their rooms to condos, the Daily News reports. Intended to save hospitality jobs, it applies to hotels with over 150 rooms, looking to convert more than 20% of their space.
Seeing as developers are eager to turn anything into condos, it’s no surprise hotels are getting extra looks. (Hotels basically are condos, just with more parent-less children roaming the halls looking for the pool.) Above, the Plaza Hotel, which in 2005 became about half condo, half hotel.
The legislation was proposed by New City Council Member Corey Johnson, above. Condo development is hot right now with projects in Brooklyn, Midtown, Midtown South, and really anywhere else you fit luxury amenities. But according to hotel experts, hotel development is also on fire, strong occupancy rates remain steady, and revPAR should see steady increases in the city for four or five more years. So there’s money to be made from hotels and condos. Will this bill impede building revenues or protect hospitality jobs from unnecessary conversion?
