Pakistan is weighing options for the future of its iconic Roosevelt Hotel in New York, including demolishing the century-old structure to build a skyscraper, as part of the government’s broader privatisation and reform commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), US outlet Bloomberg reported on Saturday.
Muhammad Ali, the prime minister’s adviser on privatisation, confirmed to Bloomberg that multiple possibilities were under consideration. “The government is keen on a joint venture where Pakistan will contribute the land and the partner will bring in the equity,” he said in Islamabad. “The other option is to retain the hotel if it makes economic sense.”
Ali added that the situation would become clearer within the next few months, once a joint venture partner is finalised and “market sounding” is complete.
Under its $7 billion IMF loan agreement, Pakistan is under pressure to restructure or privatise loss-making state-owned enterprises.
According to Bloomberg, the first major divestment could be Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which has long relied on government bailouts that are no longer sustainable.
“The adviser is hopeful that the national carrier will be sold by November,” the report said.
Ali told the publication that several of the country’s largest business groups were interested in acquiring PIA and had the capacity to turn it around. He estimated that roughly half a billion dollars in investment would be required to revive the airline’s operations.
The government is also in the process of hiring advisers for the Roosevelt Hotel’s transaction, a property some have described as “the new Ellis Island” for its historical role in housing migrants.
Bloomberg noted that bids had been received from seven firms, including Citigroup Inc., CBRE Group Inc., and Savills PLC, and that a new adviser would be finalised later this month.
