Loews Regency Hotel New York will undergo a $70 million renovation that will be complete by early 2014, according to Bloomberg News. “You know what’s happening in New York in February of 2014?” Loews CEO Paul Whetsell said. “The Super Bowl will be here. We want to definitely be done by then.” Loews’ founders, the Tisch family, own 50 percent of the New York Giants, who play home games at MetLife Stadium, the site of the 2014 Super Bowl.
The 354-room, 540 Park Avenue hotel redevelopment is part of a major expansion of Loews’ hotel business. The company is seeking to triple its hotel business’ net income by the end of 2015 and open 12 new locations — it currently owns 18. Whetsell has said the company is likely to make a “major” Manhattan acquisition this year and is willing to pay upwards of $500,000 per room.
With such large-scale growth ambitions, Whetsell said the company would seek acquisitions through portfolio buys rather than just one-off deals as it hopes to compete with Four Seasons Hotels and Marriott’s Ritz-Carlton brand. [Bloomberg]