The Qatar Investment Authority — a sovereign wealth fund based in the Middle East nation — has acquired the 610-room Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan for approximately $623 million or approximately $1.02 million per key, according to public records.
Located at 36 Central Park South between 6th Avenue and Grand Army Plaza, the hotel formerly was in the portfolio of the Witkoff Group, according to CoStar transaction data. Built in June 1972, the hotel covers approximately 442,000 square feet and was renovated most recently in 2021.
Witkoff acquired the hotel in November 2013 for approximately $660 million, though based on the property's transaction history, a number of foreign companies have owned stakes in the Manhattan hotel, according to CoStar. In 2016, and United Arab Emirates-based Al Waseet International FZ sold a 41% share in the hotel to Shanghai-based Greenland Group for an undisclosed price. Then in December 2018, Hong Kong-based Jynwel Capital Limited sold a partial stake in the property for $140 million to United Arab Emirates-based sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development Company.
In CoStar numbers, Witkoff's sale of the Park Lane Hotel to the Qatar Investment Authority represents an approximate 17.5% discount on its 2013 sale price, without taking into account inflation.
Business website PincusCo, which first announced the latest sale, said the Qatar Investment Authority acquired the 46-story hotel from Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala and added “the sale is an entity level exchange, not a deed transfer.”
The history of the hotel has been further muddied by a U.S. government allegations of money laundering and bribery and a subsequent legal case against Malaysian businessman Low Take Jho, who at the time of the Witkoff acquisition operated a trust that allegedly had an 85% stake in the hotel.
The Real Deal reports Low has been “accused of stealing $4 billion from Mubadala” but added “Witkoff put the property up for sale in 2017 … [but] no one met their $1 billion asking price.”
Highgate Hotels operates the property.