NY Observer > GLENN MILLER

Vornado Boss: Hotel Pennsylvania Doing 'Damn Well' As Is

Chris Shott and Eliot Brown — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:57:51 -0400

After months of talk about demolishing the historic Hotel Pennsylvania to make way for a soaring office tower, landlord Vornado Realty Trust has acknowledged that it might just hang on to the McKim, Mead & White-designed, Dave Barry-panned, so-called "World's Most Popular Hotel," after all.

"First off, it is doing damn well as a hotel," Vornado CEO Steven Roth said Tuesday during a conference call with investors.

Indeed, the 1,700-room lodge that Vornado previously described as "a placeholder, sort of like a parking lot," brought in nearly $38 million in 2007, as The Observer earlier reported. (That's $10.5 million more than in 2006.)

Imagine how much the run-down hotel might make after a significant renovation, which Vornado is now apparently considering. read more »

Endangered Hotel Penn Nets Nearly $38 M. in '07

Chris Shott — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 15:53:01 -0400

With Merrill Lynch staying put downtown and plans to redevelop Penn Station in flux, Vornado CEO Steven Roth may not know what to do with the Hotel Pennsylvania--a building the company once described as "a placeholder, sort of like a parking lot."

In the meantime, the historic lodge continues to make his company some big bucks--netting roughly $37.9 million last year.

That's $10.6 million more than in 2006, according to the company's latest filing with federal regulators, which further added, "This property continues to trend higher in 2008."

With revenues on the rise, does it still make sense to raze it?

Call Glenn Miller To The Stand! History Buffs Request Hearings About Hotel Pennsylvania

Chris Shott — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:25:02 -0500

At least one preservation group is speaking up on behalf of the endangered Hotel Pennsylvania.

The Historic Districts Council (HDC) has formally asked the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a hearing on proposals to protect the old McKim, Mead & White-designed hotel, which owner Vornado Realty Trust has threatened to demolish.

'A Vote of Conscience': CB5 Moves To Protect Hotel Pennsylvania

Chris Shott — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:36:27 -0500

You knew it was over when several panelists started singing the old familiar melody to Glenn Miller's "Pennsylvania 6-5000."

A resolution to protect the historic Hotel Pennsylvania from demolition is on its way to the Landmarks Preservation Commission after local Community Board 5 voted 21 to 8 on Thursday night to preserve the circa-1919, 1,700-room hotel across from Madison Square Garden. read more »