Landmarks Preservation Commission Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Interiors
Park Avenue lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Credit: Hilton Worldwide
Many of you may now know that the famed Waldorf-Astoria Hotel was purchased in 2015 by Chinese holdings company Anbang Insurance Group Co. for a record breaking $1.95 Billion. Three quarters of the building will be converted into luxury condos and the renovation will cost another 1 Billion and is expected to take 3 years. What many people do not know is that there has been a big push for the interiors of the Art Deco building to receive landmark status.
On Tuesday, the LPC calendared interior spaces for designation, mostly on the first and third floors. Also calendared are the fixtures and interior components of these spaces, which “may include but [are] not limited to the wall surfaces, ceiling surfaces and floor surfaces, murals, mirrors, chandeliers, lighting fixtures, attached furnishings, doors, exterior elevator doors and grilles, railings and balustrades, decorative metalwork, and attached decorative elements.”
With a unanimous vote to calendar the designations, the next step is a public hearing, followed by a vote. No date was announced for that public hearing, but it (and a vote) will have to take place within one year’s time. We are happy to hear that the new owners are completely in agreement with the LPC "“Anbang knows the Waldorf’s history is a large part of what makes this hotel so special. That’s why we fully support the LPC’s recommendation for what would be one of the most extensive interior landmark designations of any privately owned building in New York,” the developer said in a statement.
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Clock at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Credit: Hilton Worldwide