Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Plc (MLC)?agreed to buy the Novotel?New York?Times Square hotel for $273.6 million to expand in one of the world?s most popular tourist markets.
The hotel operator, based in Horley, England, will purchase the 34-story tower from funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management LLC and Chartres Lodging Group, Millennium & Copthorne said today in a statement. The deal is expected to be completed in the second quarter, it said.
New York?s popularity as a tourist destination is attracting hotel companies including?Marriott International Inc. (MAR), which said in January that it would open a second hotel in the city under its luxury Edition brand. Millennium & Copthorne today said the metropolis was ?one of our three key gateway cities.?
?The property is an important strategic investment for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels and will complement our existing Midtown and Downtown Manhattan hotels without adding significantly to central management costs,? Chairman Kwek Leng Beng said in the statement.
The hotel at 226 W. 52nd Street was built in 1981 and has 480 guest rooms as well as offices, shops and a penthouse apartment, the company said. A unit of Accor SA,?Europe?s biggest hotel company, will continue to manage the property. The hotel?s refurbishment was completed in November.