The Park Lane Hotel, addressed at 36 Central Park South, was built in 1972 and stands 47 stories tall with 610 rooms.

Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has taken over ownership of the Manhattan’s Park Lane Hotel as part of a multi-million dollar deal.

The Qatar Investment Authority is said to have paid nearly $623 million for the luxurious Park Lane Hotel, which is strategically located just off Central Park.

The sale closed on 17 August 2023 and was recorded on 25 August 2023, according to records.

The Park Lane hotel was once caught up in the infamous 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal in 2017. Fraudster Jho Low, who was found guilty of stealing money from the Malaysian state fund, was previously planning on partnering up with previous owner Witkoff Group to purchase this hotel until his conviction of corruption and money laundering charges.

Initially, the property was set to be seized by the US government however an agreement with the other owners meant that a sale was possible.

Since setting the price at $1 billion in 2017, the property had attracted little suitors. Only Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Co. had bought a $140 million stake in the hotel.

The building status had largely been in limbo for the better part of six years before the most recent purchase was made.

Now, QIA appears to have assumed ownership of the luxury hotel from both the Witkoff Group and Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Co.

The Park Lane Hotel, addressed at 36 Central Park South, was built in 1972 and stands 47 stories tall with 610 rooms spread across 442,000 square feet, according to PincusCo, which first reported news of the deal.

Although it has been a few years since Qatar made a major splash in the market, the Gulf state is no stranger to New York real estate.

The QIA bought the St. Regis New York Hotel on East 55th Street from Marriott in 2019 for $310 million, and an affiliate of the fund acquired a 9.9% stake in the Empire State Building in 2016 for $622 million.

In 2017 CoStar ranked the QIA as the ninth-largest commercial property owner in New York.