Pakistan is looking to replace the architectural landmark with a modern mixed-use skyscraper, but some in New York think it should be designated an American landmark – and there is a hot market for historic buildings. Which way will it go?
By Naveed Naqvi
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to replace the century-old Roosevelt Hotel – a building many in New York consider an American landmark – with a modern mixed-use skyscraper, even though historic structures are in demand for use as office and campus buildings by tech giants.
Built in the 1920s, the hotel was named after President Theodore Roosevelt of the United States, who had died shortly before the hotel was announced in 1922. It was leased by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) through its subsidiary PIA Investments Ltd.
The hotel closed its door to patrons in 2020 when the travel industry came under the full brunt of the Covid-19 global pandemic. Last year, the management said the Roosevelt was closing down.
But the Roosevelt has a storied past. “The legendary Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan has witnessed key events in American history over its 97-year existence”, says the New York’s W42ST.com news website.
And it substantiates: “The hotel’s elegant interior design and 1920s architecture are part of the historic Terminal City, which originated during the reconstruction of Grand Central Terminal, from 1903 to 1913, when the city moved the station above ground to create commercial and office developments. …
“The hotel served as an election headquarters Governor Thomas Dewey when he defeated Harry Truman and was the venue for a meeting with A. Philip Randolph to start planning the 1963 March on Washington.
“It also featured in movies such as Boiler Room, Man On A Ledge, Wall Street, Quiz Show, Malcolm X, Men in Black 3, Maid in Manhattan, and Netflix’s The Irishman.”
The Roosevelt was the subject of a push for landmarking, mounted jointly by The Municipal Art Society, Historic District Council, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, and The City Club of New York.
They co-signed a letter to the NYC Landmark Preservation Commission requesting that the Roosevelt Hotel be recognized as a New York City landmark.
During a Landmarks Committee meeting in November 2021, Committee chair Layla Law-Gisiko strongly advocated the case for giving the Roosevelt Hotel landmark status.
She reportedly said: “Big tech craves historic buildings. Google is in a historic building. Amazon is in a historic building. Facebook is in a historic building, and Apple just signed a lease in another historic building, this is where they want to be.
“So very clearly there is a very, very robust market for [landmarked] kinds of properties”.
The push ultimately fell through in January 2022 when the Commission director of communications Zodet Negrón reportedly said “further consideration is possible only within the context of agency priorities in all five boroughs.”
She, however, acknowledged that LPC had previously evaluated the Roosevelt Hotel and that it remains on LPC’s survey inventory for potential landmarks. From Pakistan’s point of view, this likely places the asset favourably on the premium market for historic buildings, in demand by tech giants.
The Federal Cabinet is said to have approved the plan to pull down the historic building and build in its stead a modern skyscraper. It is intended to be a mixed-use building having offices, apartments, retails facilities, etc.
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