The long-awaited TWA Flight Center hotel project has officially taken flight.
On Thursday, Dec. 15, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and New York-based hotel investment firm MCR Development came together to celebrate the beginning of reconstruction of the TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport into the airport’s first onsite hotel.
“JFK Airport is one of largest international transit hubs in the world and a key driver of New York’s economy,” Governor Cuomo said. “The conversion of the TWA Flight Center into a new state-of-the-art hotel will preserve this iconic landmark while cementing JFK’s status as a crown jewel of aviation. This groundbreaking builds on our efforts to modernize gateways across the state and we will continue working to drive growth, support thriving regional economies and build 21st-century infrastructure of the caliber that New York deserves.”
The $265 million project is hoping to recapture when the TWA Flight Center was built in 1962, reviving and rehabilitating the Terminal’s iconic interiors by Charles Eames, Raymond Loewy and Warren Platner.
“We want to bring back the ethos of 1962,” said Tyler Morse, CEO of MCR Development. “We are proud to play a part in Governor Cuomo’s plan to revitalize our region’s airports and we are excited to get to work as we breathe new life into one of the most important buildings in America.”
The TWA Flight Center hotel is set to have 505 guest rooms, 40,000 square feet of event space, 8 bars, 6 restaurants, an onsite museum, and a 10,000 square foot outdoor observation deck where guests can watch planes taking off and landing at the airport. The hotel will also create 3,700 jobs, including hotel and permanent union construction jobs.
The hotel will also have its own power plant that will be off of the electrical grid, making it one of the greenest buildings in the city.
“This project is not about yesterday. It’s about tomorrow,” said Cuomo. “They have built a hotel for the future.”
The TWA Flight Center hotel is expected to open in 2018.
