Mystery surrounding Roosevelt Hotel remains unresolved 

The mystery surrounding the Roosevelt Hotel affairs continues to generate uncertainty, as sources say the government has decided to shut the facility for one-and-a-half year, with its managing director refusing to comment on the issue, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

Moreover, according to the sources, the future course of action would be decided after appointing an expert financial adviser for the 14-storey Roosevelt Hotel which contains 1,047 rooms.

It is estimated that the possible renovation cost may be up to $100 million. And if 50 to 70 stories new structure is constructed then the expenditure could reach $500 million.

Earlier, the government in August this year helped to pay back $105 million loan incurred by the Roosevelt Hotel in New York.

It is Dr Najeeb Sami, 74, during his tenure the profit earned started shrinking. He was appointed as its managing director in 2007. So from 2007 to 2016, the profitable business saw a constant decline in proceeds.

And in 2017, the Roosevelt Hotel reached a point where the balance sheet showed that the revenue and expenditures were equal. This sad journey ended by with losses in 2018.

In this connection, 24NewsHD made repeated attempts to contact Dr Najeeb who refused to share any details or make comments on the issue.

On the other hand, the PIA spokesperson, Abdullah Khan, avoided commenting on the appointment of the hotel managing director. However, he said the restructuring of the national flag carrier and the hotel run by it was in progress.

Abdullah described the Roosevelt Hotel as an asset of PIA and said the government was considering different options for improving the property.

Earlier, the PIA-owned Roosevelt had announced that the facility would be permanently closed from Oct 31 after suffering financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Established in 1924, one of the historic hotels in the United States is situated in the luxurious downtown area of Manhattan. US President Donald Trump had also made an offer to buy the building. 

The PIA acquired the hotel on lease in 1969 and acquired the ownership rights in 2005. Currently, the hotel is worth over US$1 billion.

On September 2, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved US$142 million funds for paying off the hotel’s debt.

The decision was made to meet the monetary needs and maintenance of the hotel in order to take care of the loans, interests incurred and other payables of the hotel.