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New York’s Essex House will be a Marriott
New York’s iconic Essex House hotel, currently the Jumeirah Essex House has been bought by Strategic Hotels & Resorts and will become a JW Marriot property.
Strategic Hotels and Resorts will pick up the property, whose bright neon sign, Art Deco design and Central Park South location has been seen in movies and media since its opening in 1931, at a purchase price of $362.3 million The hefty price tag includes 509 hotel rooms, nine condominium units (David and Iman Bowie and many other celebs over the years have been owners) and "significant" hotel-level cash reserves.
The transaction is expected to close on or before September 7, with management by JW Marriott to take over soon after. JW Marriott is a luxury Marriot Brand, about one step behind Ritz-Carlton in amenities and services. Prior to its management by Jumeirah, the Essex House was Starwood-managed through two brands, Westin and St. Regis.
After the transaction, Strategic will fuse the property with about $18.3 million in various property improvements including renovations to various common areas, select systems upgrades as well as new signage and other branding efforts to distinguish the property under the JW Marriott flag. The hotel’s Art Deco lobby, rooms, spa and restaurants were substantially renovated under the Jumeirah management and Marriott doesn’t plan to do much more than a basic re-branding, leaving the Deco details intact.
Arne Sorenson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International, Inc. said: "We believe there is substantial upside for this hotel as a JW Marriott brand, especially when combining our sales and marketing channels with the excellent asset management expertise of Strategic Hotels."
Gretchen Kelly
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