Omni Berkshire Place, located near Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, will permanently close as a result of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, Bloomberg reports. In late May, The Times Square Edition, just a year after opening, announced it would be closing due to lost business from lockdowns and travel restrictions.
According to the Bloomberg report, Omni Hotels & Resorts, which is owned by billionaire Robert Rowling’s TRT Holdings, Inc., informed loyalty members of its plans to close the property on East 52nd Street.
The hotel has 399 guestrooms and suites, which were designed to feel like an Upper East Side residential townhome. Eight of the guestrooms and suites have private furnished outside terraces, with the highlight being the Rodgers & Hammerstein suite, where the two Broadway giants (Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein) collaborated on their first masterpiece "Oklahoma!" in 1942.
Omni Berkshire Place was built in 1926 by Warren & Wetmore, who also developed Grand Central Station Terminal. Part of the plan, according to the Omni Berkshire Place, was to develop residences and hotels in the blocks surrounding the beaux-arts terminal to continue the aesthetic out into the neighborhood. RRT Holdings purchased the Omni Hotels chain in 1996, a year after undergoing a $70 million restoration.
TRT Holdings plans to keep the property, but there is speculation it may be converted into office space due to it being rezoned by the City Council.
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