NEW YORK
Loews Corp. plans a $70 million renovation of the Loews Regency Hotel New York, a 354-room luxury property on Park Avenue in Manhattan, as the company focuses on the city in an expansion of its hotel division.
The upgrades should be completed by February 2014, when the National Football League's Super Bowl will be held at MetLife Stadium in nearby East Rutherford, N.J., said Paul Whetsell, CEO of Loews Hotels. The venue is the shared home of the New York Giants, which is 50 percent owned by members of the Tisch family, Loews Corp.'s founders.
"You know what's happening in New York in February of 2014?" Whetsell asked. "The Super Bowl will be here. We want to definitely be done by then."
The Regency renovation, which will be done in stages to avoid service disruptions, is part of an initiative to overhaul and bolster Loews's hotel business. Whetsell, who was hired by Loews in January, plans to more than triple the division's net income by the end of 2015 and increase its hotel count from 18 to about 30.
The company probably will make a "major" acquisition in Manhattan by the end of the year, he said.
