Shahal Khan is trying to grab a stake in another iconic New York City hotel.
Burkhan World Investments and its partners proposed redeveloping the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan to its owner, Bloomberg reported. The hotel’s owner is an affiliate of the Pakistani government, which has been looking at redeveloping or selling the hotel for several years.
Khan has pitched a joint venture to take control of the property, which would allow Pakistan’s PIA Holding Co. to retain a 50 percent stake in the building. The joint venture would sign a ground lease for 99 years and have an option to extend it for another 99.
What Khan plans to do with control of the site isn’t fully clear. The venture would look for approval to build a 1.3-million-square-foot property on the site by taking advantage of air rights. The use of the tower, however, was not disclosed.
A Burkhan representative referred to the proposal as the “best deal” for ownership. The joint venture partnership hasn’t received a direct response from Pakistan’s government on the proposal, but Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on Privatisation is expected to consider it at its next meeting.
Khan’s Trinity Investment Group proposed acquiring the property from Pakistan back in 2020 for $600 million, but was rebuffed. The hotel closed during the height of the pandemic, but served as one of the more prominent migrant shelters in the city.
The city is working on transferring the functions of the migrant intake center elsewhere in the coming months. In 2023, the city opted to lease the hotel from Pakistan for three years, paying $220 million over the life of the deal.
That same year, Pakistan tapped JLL to market the hotel on the 43,000-square-foot site, soliciting possible redevelopment opportunities. SL Green has been a rumored candidate.
Khan gained notoriety several years ago when he and a partner proposed a $600 million acquisition of the Plaza Hotel, only to be pushed aside after Ben Ashkenazy and Kingdom Holding Company — under Saudi Arabia royal control — exercised a right of first refusal. Katara Hospitality ultimately bought the hotel.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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