The iconic Eero Saarinen-designed TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport will be transformed into a hotel complex. According to the Cuomo administration, the hotel project has been approved by the Port Authority board for the airport in Queens.
Town & Country reports that the new hotel "will bring back the airport's midcentury glory." The construction project is billed at $265 million.
Being one of the U.S. airports without an on-site hotel, the new planned property is expected to be a welcome addition in John F. Kennedy airport. According to Architectural Digest, the new hotel, dubbed the TWA Flight Center Hotel, will feature two towers with six stories each and 505 guest rooms. The property will feature various facilities such as a restaurant, spa, and event space. A 10,000-square-foot observation deck will also be in the works.
The report further states that the airport hotel will be LEED-certified and will feature a microgrid energy-management system which will be used to generate the hotel's power. Beyer Blinder Belle and Lubrano Ciavarra Architects will be in charge of the hotel's design.
According to Silive.com, the hotel construction will begin next year, and it is expected to generate at least 3,700 jobs, which includes 2,500 union jobs. The John F. Kennedy airport hotel is poised to be open by 2018.
Flight Center Hotel LLC, which has a 75-year lease agreement with the TWA Flight Center, will be the one to spend for the construction. The hotel project is a partnership with MCR Development, and it will own 95 percent of the hotel while JetBlue Airways Corp. will get 5 percent.