The makeover is being launched immediately by the property's co-owners, the New York City-based Olnick Organization and Fisher Development. The conversion is expected to be completed by June, according to Bruce Simon, executive vice president of Olnick-Fisher Development Associates. The renovation will initially involve the property's lobby, meeting and other public spaces, and the partners also plan to renovate all of the guest rooms over the next two years.
The hotel is part of a downtown mixed-use complex owned by Olnick-Fisher. The other components include 600,000 sf of office space in two towers, a 100,000-sf professional office mall and a 3,000-car parking garage. The office component got $2 million worth of capital improvements in late 2003 in a project that involved converting most of its struggling retail component into the office mall.
The reflagged hotel will by Hyatt's fourth in the Garden State, joining existing properties in New Brunswick, Princeton and on the waterfront in Jersey City. Under the terms of the agreement with Hyatt, the hotel's 150 employees will be retained, according to Simon.
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