New York-based MCR Development has begun a public review process regarding its $265 million proposal to renovate the TWA Flight Center at New York’s JFK International Airport (JFK) into a 505-room hotel.
“We’ve seen a groundswell of support for our plan to preserve the iconic Saarinen Terminal and permanently reopen it to the public as JFK’s first top-of-the-line, onsite airport hotel and museum,” says Tyler Morse, CEO of MCR Development. “We look forward to continuing our work with the surrounding southeast Queens communities and the city as we begin the formal public review process.”
Adds urban research and advocacy organization Regional Plan Association president Tom Wright: “The New York region lags behind other metropolitan areas in the availability of hotel and conference space, so this plan helps meet an important need while also fostering economic activity around the airport.”
The TWA Flight Center has been closed to the public since 2001 when it was declared unfit to sustain modern aircrafts. The plan—approved by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners this past September—now calls for the 1962 landmark’s conversion into a hotel targeting LEED certification.
“Since its debut more than five decades ago, the TWA Flight Center at JFK has been among the most admired buildings in modern architecture and a symbol of the golden age of travel,” says Juergen Siebenrock, vice president of the Americas for Lufthansa German Airlines. “The redevelopment efforts will maintain the structure’s heritage while enriching the passenger experience, enhancing the airport’s infrastructure, and adding to the ongoing development of one of the world’s busiest gateways.”
Slated for completion in 2018, two six-story hotel structures will be located next to the Eero Saarinen-designed terminal, which was declared a historic landmark in 1994 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Amenities will include 40,000 square feet of function space, six to eight F&B outlets, an observation deck, and a museum space dedicated to midcentury modern design and the Jet Age.
