Another day, another setback for the long-lagging Waldorf Astoria condo conversion.
The already-delayed project is now expected to open in 2025 at the earliest, unnamed sources told the New York Post. A year ago, it was believed the project could be done at the end of this 2023, at the earliest.
A source told the outlet work on the hotel portion of the project has only just begun. Another source told the Post that a 2025 reopening of the famed property would be “lucky.”
Hilton isn’t throwing in the towel on a 2024 completion. A spokesperson for the hotel giant told the outlet renovations would be done next year and the property was “expected” to be reopened in the second half of next year.
The conflicting forecasts are just the latest after the project has veered years off schedule.
Dajia US replaced China’s Anbang Insurance Group as owner of the property in 2018. Anbang purchased the property in 2015 for $1.95 million and started the conversion process two years later, pumping in $1 billion and shutting down the hotel.
Costs have since soared past $2 billion and the original projected completion date of 2021 feels like a distant memory. Sales for the property’s residential condos finally launched in 2020, only days before the onset of the pandemic changed the word; the sales gallery was shut down on March 16.
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Last year, Dajia US CEO Andrew Miller, the top U.S. executive overseeing the project, abruptly left the company after he was reportedly at odds with the parent company over cost overruns and left without a successor in place.
The pandemic and challenges with Chinese ownership have created a forgettable chapter in the history of the landmarked property, which is eventually expected to yield 375 hotel rooms and 375 condo residences.
— Holden Walter-Warner