Demolishing New York’s Roosevelt Hotel to build skyscraper an option for Pakistan: Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is considering options for the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, including demolishing the building, as part of its efforts to meet commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), US outlet Bloomberg reported.
Named after former US president Theodore Roosevelt, the century-old property in midtown Manhattan is seen as one of Pakistan’s most valuable foreign assets, which it acquired in 2000. Faced with mounting losses, the over 1,000-room hotel was shut in 2020, and has also operated briefly as a migrant shelter.
As part of its $7 billion IMF loan agreement, the government approved a “transaction structure for the Roosevelt Hotel” in July, saying it would not conduct an outright sale but decided to adopt a joint venture model to maximise long-term value.
Muhammad Ali, the adviser to the prime minister on privatisation, told Bloomberg that one of the options is to raze the storied landmark and build a skyscraper in its place.
“The government is keen on a joint venture where Pakistan will contribute the land and the partner will bring in the equity,” he told Bloomberg in Islamabad. “The other option is to retain the hotel if it makes economic sense.
“We will have clarity on this in the next few months after finalisation of the JV partner and market sounding,” Ali said.
The federal government is making an effort to restructure or privatise state-owned enterprises as committed to the IMF under the terms of the $7bn loan agreement, Bloomberg reported.
“The first asset to be sold could be PIA (Pakistan International Airlines), which has been surviving on periodic bailouts that the government can no longer afford,” the outlet added. “The adviser is hopeful that the national carrier will be sold by November.”
Ali also said that the groups interested in buying PIA are among the largest business groups in the country and have the capacity to run it, according to Bloomberg. He estimated that an investment of about half a billion dollars would be needed to turn the airline around.
“Pakistan is in the process of appointing advisers for the hotel transaction, dubbed by some as “the new Ellis Island” for its historical role as a migrant intake point,” the outlet reported.
“The government will finalise a new adviser later this month after bids from seven groups, including Citigroup Inc, CBRE Group Inc, and Savills PLC.” PIA posted a pre-tax profit in the first half of 2025, which a company source said is its first such for the period in about two decades, ahead of a planned sale of the national carrier later this year. Monitoring Desk
