Citigroup, CBRE among bidders to advise Pakistan on Roosevelt Hotel redevelopment: report

Pakistan has received bids from seven international consortia, including those led by Citigroup and CBRE, to act as financial advisers on the future of its Roosevelt Hotel property in New York, reported Bloomberg on Thursday.

Ahsan Ishaq, spokesperson Privatisation Commission, disclosed the development to Bloomberg.

“Among bidders are Citigroup-led consortium, including Cushman & Wakefield and Proskauer Rose, CBRE’s consortium comprises Morgan Stanley, Ankura-led group includes Bank of Punjab and Baker McKenzie,” read the report.

The Privatisation Commission would complete the technical evaluation in 10 days, it added.

Roosevelt Hotel, located in Midtown East on Madison Avenue and East 45th Street, Manhattan, New York City-USA, is amongst the elite hotels in Manhattan, comprising 19 storeys and 1,025 rooms with a covered area of ~600,000 square feet.

The Roosevelt Hotel is owned by PIA Investments Ltd (PIAIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Limited (PIACL).

As per a statement available on the Privatisation Commission’s website, the agency has been mandated to appoint a financial adviser to undertake the envisaged leasing of the Roosevelt site for setting up a joint venture project for prospective mixed-use development.

Earlier in July, the Privatisation Commission announced that Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a leading global real estate services firm, acting as financial advisor for the privatisation of the Roosevelt Hotel, resigned from the assignment owing to the emergence of a potential conflict of interest.

In its correspondence, JLL offered to return all amounts received from the Privatisation Commission during the course of its engagement.

The Roosevelt Hotel has long been at the centre of privatisation debates in Pakistan, with successive governments considering various options for its future amid fluctuating real estate market dynamics in New York City.